|
|
 |
 |
|
IFOAM General Assembly Elects New IFOAM World Board |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
September 29, 2005
IFOAM General Assembly Elects New IFOAM World Board |
|
|
|
|
|
From a slate of 19 candidates, the General Assembly of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), which took place from September 25th-27th in Adelaide, Australia, elected 10 World Board members, including 4 standing members. The new World Board has chosen Gerald A. Herrmann, Germany, as its President and Mette Meldgaard, Denmark, and Alberto (Pipo) Lernoud, Argentina, as Vice Presidents. |
|
|
|
|
|
Members coming from more than 70 countries, thus representing the broad
constituency of the federation, established the quorum of the IFOAM
General Assembly. The new World Board will serve a term of three years
until the next General Assembly in 2008.
“This board, representing our full membership, is committed to not only
the success and future of IFOAM, but the organic sector in its
entirety,” remarked Angela B. Caudle, Executive Director of IFOAM. “I
am delighted with our new and returning board members and know that
they will provide strong leadership and vision to IFOAM.”
The presidency of IFOAM is a three-year term. “Throughout my
involvement in the movement, I’ve been passionate about working with
all the dedicated people from around the world,” Herrmann reflected.
“Their support and knowledge are a tremendous strength for moving
organic food and farming forward as they are reflecting the interests
and great diversity of the organic sector.”
Brief information about each World Board member for the 2005-2008 period:
Gerald A. Herrmann, Germany –
Gerald A. Herrmann has been involved in the organic sector since 1985
and first began working with farmers assisting their conversion to
organic. He was the President and Executive of Naturland, an IFOAM
Accredited Certifier, for more than a decade, and has authored many
publications and spoken widely about organic agriculture. He has been
serving as the IFOAM Executive Director for the last year. He was
member of the Board since 1995, the Treasurer of the World Board from
1998-2000, and its Vice President from 2000-2005. He currently is the
Director of Organic Services GmbH, Vice President of Ecoland and board
member of the Nature & More Foundation.
Alberto (Pipo) Lernoud, Argentina
– Alberto (Pipo) Lernoud began writing articles in 1980 as editor of
the magazine Expreso Imaginaro and edited the first book on organic
farming in Latin America. He is co-founder of MAPO, the umbrella
organization for the organic movement in Argentina. He has served on
the IFOAM World Board since 1998, and has been the Vice President since
2002. Together with his wife Maria Calzada, he runs an organic shop,
restaurant and catering service El Rincon Organico and has established
the foundation Cocina de la Tierra to promote indigenous products and
knowledge and support biodiversity in Latin America.
Mette Meldgaard, Denmark –
Mette Meldgaard has been involved in the organic movement since 1983,
first as a small-scale farmer, and subsequently as a policy analyst for
the Danish Association for Organic Farming. She worked as the Danish
representative in the IFOAM EU Regional Group serving as chair of the
policy committee thus participating in the advocacy for the EU Organic
Action Plan. Currently she is involved in organic agriculture policy
research projects.
Antonio Compagnoni, Italy –
Antonio Compagnoni has been an organic farmer since the mid 1980s, and
was later founder and president of an organic farmer’s cooperative,
which subsequently became one of the founding organizations of AIAB,
the Italian umbrella organization for organic agriculture. He has
served IFOAM in different capacities including the Norms Management
Committee, the International Task Force on Harmonization, and as an
IFOAM World Board member since 1998. He currently works to expand
certification services of ICEA, the Institute for Ethical and
Environmental Certification and serves as the Vice President of AIAB
Emilia Romagna and as a board member for Fairtrade-Transfair Italia,
among a host of other local and cooperative activities related to
organic farming.
Prabha Mahale, India – Prabha
Mahale has been a university professor, researcher, development worker
and consultant for most of her 35-year career, and has focused on
anthropology, gender studies, rural development and environmental
issues. She has been extensively engaged in organic agriculture for the
last 13 years, has worked for the promotion of the local market for
organic products in Delhi, and has worked for a certification body. She
has served as an IFOAM World Board member since 2002. Currently, she
supports NGO capacity building and trains small and marginal farmers to
operate organic farms and manage Internal Control Systems (Smallholder
Group Certification) and organic certification.
Brendan Hoare, New Zealand –
Brendan Hoare has been committed to organic agriculture for 23 years.
Over the last seven years he has served as the President of the Soil
and Health Association, the Director of BioGro and Chair of the Organic
Federation of Aotearoa New Zeland. Currently, he chairs the National
Organic Sector Board of New Zealand, is the Team Leader for the
Pacific-focused Journal of Organic Systems, audits a national
participatory guarantee program and serves as Chair of the
‘econation2020 Trust’. He is also employed as a senior academic in
Sustainable Production Systems at Unitec New Zealand, is the Director
of the Unitec Hortecology Sanctuary/ Mahi Whenua, a certified organic
demonstration and research facility.
Ong Kung Wai, Malaysia – Ong
Kung Wai first became involved in the organic sector in 1983 during a
period of voluntary service with disabled adults in the US, which lead
him to enroll in training in Biodynamic Agriculture and Rural
Development at Emerson College in the United Kingdom. He has been
involved with IFOAM since 1990 in various capacities including as a
member of the Norms Management Committee, and has served as a board
member of the International Organic Accreditation Service (IOAS) since
1998. He is founder of Humus consultancy for the development of organic
agriculture.
Jacqueline Haessig Alleje, Philippines
– Jacqueline Haessig Alleje has been involved in organic agriculture
for the last 15 years. She has been owner and manager of the Rizal
Dairy Farms since 1992, and one of the founders of the first organic
market in the Philippines in 1994. In 1995, she co-founded the Organic
Producers Trade Association of the Philippines (OPTA). She has been a
key player in the development of national organic standards in the
Philippines, and is a strong advocate for the recognition of women’s
roles in agriculture. She is founder and President of ‘Petra’s
Naturally’, the first organic catering service in the Philippines, and
Ecological Earth Planners & Consultancy (EEP).
Mwatima Juma, Tanzania –
Mwatima Juma holds a PhD in crop physiology from London University. She
has been involved in the organic sector since 1997, having been
recruited as an organic inspector. She served as the Commissioner for
Agriculture, Research and Extension in the Tanzanian Ministry of
Agriculture. She is currently the Tanzanian representative for the
International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), an active member
of the International Task Force for Harmonization and Equivalence in
Organic Agriculture (ITF) a board member of the Tanzanian Certification
Organization (TanCert) and Chair of the Tanzanian Organic Agriculture
Movement (TOAM). She is also a member of the IFOAM Africa Organic
Service Center advisory committee and runs her own organic spice farm
in Zanzibar.
Johan Cejie, Sweden –Johan
Cejie works since many years for the Swedish certification and standard
setting body KRAV as the quality and environmental manager, and is
responsible for accreditation, project management and process
development, including managing a project to establish standards and
certification for sustainable fisheries. He has served as the Chair of
IFOAM’s Norms Management Committee since the General Assembly in 2002.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
