Rabobank Group

17-12-2009 | Press Releases

Rabobank is proud to announce its sponsorship of the European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA), which represents the next generation of European food producers.

“We are delighted to be a sponsor of CEJA,” said Caroline Steenvoort, Head of European Retail Development of Rabobank. “Rabobank is committed to financing the food and agribusiness worldwide, and having a professional sparring partner like CEJA with whom we can exchange knowledge, visions on agriculture in Europe and affiliated themes like CSR is very important to our organisation. Our relationship is a natural fit”.

Rabobank’s Caroline Steenvoort, and CEJA President Joris Baecke signed a sponsorship agreement yesterday for an initial period of one year at Rabobank’s head office in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Europe’s next generation of farmers
CEJA has an important role in the European political decision-making process, and represents the agricultural sector and the interests of approximately one million young farmers throughout the European Union.

 “CEJA has good relationships with major players in the food and agribusiness sector. Our partnership with Rabobank will foster a knowledge exchange which will be valuable to our organisation”, Joris Baecke, President of the CEJA said.

Food and agribusiness Principles
At yesterday’s signing of the sponsor agreement, Rabobank International’s head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Thomas Ursem, addressed Rabobank’s Food and Agribusiness Principles, which are being discussed with clients and stakeholders worldwide.

“It is clear that the food and agribusiness chain can only become more sustainable if all parties involved, including banks, customers, members and stakeholders, join forces and work together. This is why Rabobank has formulated five directional Food & Agribusiness Principles. Creating a long term relationship with our clients to make them frontrunners in their operating sectors is one of our key objectives in discussing these Principles with them, but also with organizations like CEJA”, he said.

“Agriculture and climate change are also issues that are high on our agenda”, Baecke explained. “In the months ahead of the UNFCCC Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, our organisation shared our proposals for climate change adaptation and mitigation with the European Council, the European Parliament, the Commission and many other stakeholders. We believe that the agricultural sector must be included in any agreement, because it can play an important role in cutting emissions and producing energies”.

Concluding the meeting, Joris Baecke stated that establishing this partnership is an important step in the development of CEJA. “European young farmers have to work as entrepreneurs and look for business partners, partners that provide them with specific knowledge, support and input to further improve a sustainable way of producing. As an organisation that represents European young farmers, CEJA has to do the same. Establishing this partnership with Rabobank gives us access to the in depth knowledge Rabobank holds on the field of food and agribusiness while CEJA can share with Rabobank the views of over one million European young farmers on important agricultural topics.”