New president elected to lead AgriCord
Monday, July 5, 2010
Piet Vanthemsche, the president of the Belgian Farmers' Union (Boerenbond), will preside AgriCord for the next two years. The General Assembly of AgriCord, held in Paris 28th June, unanimously elected him . Piet Vanthemsche is the third farmer leader to be AgriCord president. He succeeds Gerard Doornbos (2003-2006, president of Agriterra and LTO Nederland) and Laurent Pellerin (2006-2010, president of UPA and CFA Canada). The president of AgriCord is elected among the leaders of farmers' organisations from nine countries, members of AgriCord: Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. AgriCord's mandate stems from the farmers' organisations in these countries, and uniquely focuses on the strengthening of farmers' organisations in developing countries. Since 2007, AgriCord manages "Farmers Fighting Poverty", a worldwide programme involving (in 2009) 189 farmers' organisations in 61 developing countries.
Piet Vanthemsche is a veterinary surgeon by profession. He held various senior management positions at the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as being chief of staff of the Cabinet of the Belgian Minister of Agriculture. In March 2008, the Belgian Farmers' Union elected him as chairman. He is also president of the Belgian Strategic Advisory Board for Agriculture and Fishery and Member of the Board of the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA).
Mr. Vanthemsche strongly supports alliance building between the representative farmers' organisations at national and international level, obviously including developing countries. He values positively the AgriCord partnership with the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP). He is in favour of an open and permanent dialogue with non-gouvernemental organisations, with private sector and with governments. He wants farmers' organisations to remain directly involved in agricultural development and poverty reduction. "Farmer-to-farmer cooperation works", according to Vanthemsche, "and putting farmers' organisations in the driver's seat is the best guarantee to promote food security and to reduce poverty."
The General Assembly also re-elected, for 2010-2012, the two vice-presidents of AgriCord: Laure Hamdi (AFDI, France) and Kees Blokland (Agriterra, Netherlands) and the managing director: Ignace Coussement.
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