Nomination for Board of Governors Election

OIL PALM GROWERS REST OF THE WORLD

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PRINCIPAL BOARD MEMBER

Name Of Organisation: Agroamerica Tropical Oil Holding Corp.
Membership Number: 103742200000
Name Of Nominee: Jose Roberto Montenegro Baide
Position In The Organisation: President - Palm Oil Division


Summary of Nominee Profile
Jose Roberto is the President of the Tropical Oil Division at AgroAmerica, an integrated corporation in the production of agricultural products, agro-industrial processing, and the marketing and distribution of the highest-quality sustainable foods. The Tropical Oil unit of AgroAmerica is devoted to producing and commercializing products derived from palm oil. In 2010, AgroAmerica became the first palm oil company in the world to be certified under The Rainforest Alliance. In 2014, the first palm oil producer in Central America to obtain Certification with Identity Preserved under the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil.

In 2021, AgroAmerica ranked in the top 5 out of 100 tropical oil producers, processors, and traders on the public disclosure of their policies, operations, and commitments to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) best practices, in the results published by the renowned Sustainability Policy Transparency Toolkit – SPOTT-

Jose Roberto graduated with a BSc in agriculture from the renowned Zamorano University in Honduras in 1990. After five years working in fisheries and agriculture, he completed an MBA (specializing in finance and natural resource management) in 1998 at the INCAE Business School in CostaRica. He has also participated in executive development programs on strategy development, leadership, and corporate social responsibility at the Kellogg School of Management and INCAE.

Jose Roberto has ample experience working in crop production and estate administration. Past positions include Financial Analyst at Standard Fruit, Honduras (DOLE) and Country Manager for Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Belize at the Latin American Agribusiness Development Corporation (LAAD).

Since 2017, José Roberto Montenegro has been a member of the Board of Governors of RSPO, representing the Growers from the Rest Of the world, and Co-Chairman of the Consultative Group for Latin America (CGLA) 


Summary of Organisation Profile
AgroAmerica is an integrated corporation in the production of agricultural products, agro-industrial processing, and the marketing and distribution of the highest-quality sustainable foods. The company has become an agribusiness leader in the region, supplying fruits and tropical oil to large stores in the United States, Europe, The United Kingdom, and Latin America.

The company's business unit dedicated to producing and commercializing products derived from palm oil is AgroAmerica Tropical Oil Holding Corp. The corporation implements internationally certified practices that contribute to the sustainable production and commercialization of the highest quality tropical oil. AgroAmerica seeks to transform the agro-industrial sector and maintain competitiveness through sustainable production.


ALTERNATE BOARD MEMBER

Name Of Organisation: SIPEF Group
Membership Number: 100210500000
Name Of Nominee: Sander van den Ende
Position In The Organisation: Director Sustainability


Summary of Nominee Profile
Sander has spent his entire career working within the interface of the private and NGO sector with the objective of improving the impact of land-use industry on social and forest management in emerging economies. With a BSc in Ecology (SF State University) and an MSc Tropical Forestry (Wageningen), Sander has spent 8 years within WWF and TNC and 12 years within forestry and oil palm industries always within the sector of voluntary market driven certification (FSC and RSPO).  Sander’s work has taken him from Panama, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea and now Indonesia where he is the Director of Sustainability for SIPEF.  Sander’s vision is that market driven certification can act as catalyst to improving the social and environmental standards of land based industries in emerging economies.

Summary of Organisation Profile
SIPEF is a Belgian company, based in Schoten and listed on Euronext Brussels. It currently operates agro-industrial activities in the production of oil palm products, i.e. fresh fruit bunches (FFB), crude palm oil (CPO), palm kernels (PK), crude palm kernel oil (CPKO), as well as bananas, natural rubber, tea, flowers and foliage. 

The Headquarters constitute a team of about 20 people. The subsidiaries located in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Ivory Coast employ more than 21 000 people.

Since 2021, SIPEF has also been operating in Singapore through SIPEF Singapore Pte Ltd. 


ALTERNATE BOARD MEMBER

Name Of Organisation: Univanich Palm Oil Public Company Limited
Membership Number: 100740900000
Name Of Nominee: John Clendon
Position In The Organisation: Director


Summary of Nominee Profile
John Clendon is a New Zealander whose overseas career began as an advisor to small-holder and communal farm development schemes in the Solomon Islands , under the NZ Government's bi-lateral aid programme in the western Pacific.

In 1980 John joined the Unilever Plantations and Plant Science Group and for the next 18 years was employed in various management positions including Director of Unilever's Oil Palm Operations in East Asia,  Chairman and Managing Director of Unipalmol Malaysia Sdn Bhd and director of Unifield PLC in the UK.


Summary of Organisation Profile
Univanich has been an initiator of the oil palm sustainability movement in Thailand. This has included the pioneering development of methane biogas capture for the generation of renewable energy at the company's five palm oil factories and an industry leading programme of employee housing and social facilities.

The company has also promoted advanced R&D at the Univanich Oil Palm Research Centre where development of drought tolerant hybrid seeds and oil palm tissue culture has made it possible for Thailand's farmers to achieve competitive crop yields in a region where marked  dry seasons and soil moisture deficits were serious limiting factors for successful oil palm cultivation.

In 2012 the Univanich-Plaipraya Community Enterprise Group became the world's first group of Independent Smallholders to achieve RSPO certification. During the past decade this pioneering group has been an ongoing example of successful collaboration between a nucleus small company, independent small farmers and the RSPO.


ALTERNATE BOARD MEMBER

Name Of Organisation: Olam Group Limited
Membership Number: 103792200000
Name Of Nominee: Quentin Meunier
Position In The Organisation: Vice-President in charge of Sustainable Development - Olam Gabon Plantations


Summary of Nominee Profile
VP, Head of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Olam Gabon – Plantations

Quentin Meunier has a Master Degree on tropical ecosystems management and specialized in botany and agroforestry. He has been working in Africa for nearly 20 years and joined Olam on August 2015 in the department that he is today heading.

Domains of expertise developed in Olam are related to environmental and social standards compliance (ESIA, HCV, HCS, FPIC), certification (RSPO), OHS and technical partnerships with scientific institutions and NGOs.

Prior to this, Quentin worked on topics related to sustainable use of natural resources and rural development. In Gabon since 2010, he was particularly involved on social forestry and community forests. He wrote several books dedicated to the socio-economic and environmental values of African trees, the latest being the guidebook entitled “Les Arbres Utiles du Gabon” (Useful trees of Gabon) in 2015, which has become a reference in the country.


Summary of Organisation Profile
Olam is a leading food and agri-business, supplying food ingredients, feed and fibre to thousands of customers worldwide, from world famous brands to small family run businesses. Company's value chain spans over 60 countries, from growing crops in owned orchards and estates, to sourcing from a global network of farmers. Olam operates over 75 large processing and manufacturing facilities and employes more than 80 000 people worldwide.