Eight members elected at the organisation’s recent AGM

Fairtrade bananas

Fairtrade International has announced the election of eight board members during its annual General Assembly. They will each serve a three-year term.

The newly elected board members are Christelle Owona, of Compagnie Fruitiere Foundation and Max Havelaar France board member; Hussein Rifai, chair of SPC Global Board in Australia and Singapore’s Nature One Dairy; Hend MH Kassab, of Daltex and Fairtrade Africa; Jeremiah Mweene of Fairtrade Africa and Absa Bank Zambia; Marike Runneboom de Peña of the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Fair Trade Small Producers and Workers.

The board members re-elected to a second term are: Laurence Tanty, chair of the Fairtrade International Board and Rhea Beltrami, Max Havelaar Switzerland and the head of Agriculture of the State of Zurich.

They join the current board members William Barrett, Frank Harnischfeger and Pravakar Meher.

Tanty, said the new board members’ “unique expertise and leadership abilities will be extremely valuable as we move towards our goals of fostering growth and innovation, promoting commercial value with a responsibility lens, and working on social justice through advocacy and partnerships”.

Fairtrade thanks outgoing board members Miguel Munguia, Wambui Chege, Merling Preza, Kouame N’Dri Benjamin Francklin and Andrea Debbané.

The Fairtrade International Board is responsible for the strategic direction of Fairtrade and its financial and risk management. Its composition is regulated in the Fairtrade International constitution.