Aid by Trade Foundation

Environmental damage, pollution of the soil and depletion of drinking water resources in the developing countries are closely linked to non-sustainable use of natural resources and an increasing social divide between rich and poor. Realising the need to protect the resources which are essential for life, and to establish sustainable development as a vital requirement to safeguard the future of coming generations, Dr. Michael Otto set up the Aid by Trade Foundation (formerly known as FSAF) in 2005.

Together with various partners from business, government, academia and NGOs, this Foundation aims to play a part in combating poverty and protecting the environment in developing countries, and specifically in Africa.

Purpose of Foundation

The purpose of the Aid by Trade Foundation is to promote environmental protection and to improve social conditions in Africa. An improvement in development cooperation in Africa is also to be achieved by support of regional, sustainable growing of agricultural and forestry products, and their processing.

These goals are to be achieved in particular by organisational and financial support of projects. In concrete terms, that means:

Conducting project studies,
Implementing the results of studies in specific projects for environmental protection and development aid,
Developing evaluation systems for sustainable development,
Creating, focusing and securing demand - that is essential for growing the products and thus for implementation of the projects.

Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees oversees implementation of the ambitious goals of the Foundation; its members are leading personalities from key environmental organisations, academic institutions and business companies.

	Dr. Michael Otto Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Chairman Board of Directors (of the Otto Group) Following his studies of economics, Dr. Michael Otto joined the Hamburg retail and services Group Otto (GmbH & Co KG), where he has chaired the Management Board since 1981. In 1991 he was awarded the prize for the "Environmental Manager of the Year 1991", and in 1993 he established the Michael Otto Foundation for Environmental Protection. He is a recipient of the Federal Order of Merit, has received various international awards, and holds a number of honorary offices, for example as a Vice-President of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, and is on the Board of the Cultural Section of the Confederation of German Industry (BDI).
	Dr. Michael Bornmann Member of the Management Board of DEG - Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH Following his studies of economics, Dr. Bornmann held senior management positions with the KfW bank group before joining the DEG as Managing Director in 2005. He promotes the activities of private-sector companies in developing countries, working for sustainable projects designed on environmentally and socially acceptable principles, and for cooperation with German companies. He is a member of the Administrative Board and Board of Trustees of the European Business School, and a member of the Council of the Ibero-America Association.
	Andreas Proksch Having taken his degree in economics and social sciences, he has been working in German development aid for nearly 30 years, 17 of these in various countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He has held various management and advisory positions in the GTZ and NGOs. The main focus of his activity is on fundamental issues of development policy and promotion of the private sector.
	Rickard Laurin Member of the Executive Board of Dunavant Enterprises, Inc., Chairman & Managing Director of Dunavant S.A. Rickard Laurin graduated in Economic Sciences from Stockholm University. During the first five years of his career, Mr. Laurin worked with Cook Industries in the U.S. and in Japan. He joined the Dunavant Group opening their first office in Geneva in 1978 and first developed Dunavant´s business in Europe and the Indian sub-continent. During the nineties he extended business activities into Central Asia. Since the turn of the millennium, Rickard Laurin focuses on the African Continent, amongst others, investing in ginning and traiding operations in Zambia, Uganda and Mozambique. One focal activity was the training of small scale farmers to improve yields and profits to enhance their standard of living. Mr. Laurin has held various official functions in the Cotton industry, i.a. as Chairman Association of the European Cotton Merchants, Director of International Cotton Association and as Chairman of the Arbitration Strategy Committing of the ICA.
	Eberhard Brandes Managing Director WWF Germany Eberhard Brandes has been Managing Director of WWF Deutschland, based in Frankfurt, since 1 October 2006. He studied economics and organisation sciences in Hamburg, and already has a successful track record in business management, including responsibility for award winning initiatives such as the prestigious award of the German Environmental Management Association (BAUM) in 2001 and the Innovation Prize of the City of Hamburg for a closed-cycle system for environmentally acceptable medical engineering.
	Dr. Hans-Joachim Preuss Secretary General of Deutsche Welthungerhilfe (German Agro Action) Hans-Joachim Preuss has been Secretary General of Deutsche Welthungerhilfe since 2003. Before that he was head of the Programme Section of the organisation for six years. Following his studies of business administration in Giessen and post-graduate studies of agricultural sciences at the German Institute of Development Policy in Berlin, he worked for the GTZ in Mauritania and Benin, and then at the Centre for Regional Development Research at Giessen University and at the GTZ Head Office in Eschborn.
	Uwe Schröder Chairman of the Advisory Board of TOM TAILOR GmbH, Honorary Member Board of Trustees Uwe Schröder is a co-founder, and until 2006 was Chairman of the Management Board of the Hamburg clothing company TOM TAILOR, which has been in business since 1962; today he is Chairman of the Advisory Board. He has also been active for a number of years in the Plenary Assembly of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce and as President of the VFI. The company has for many years been working in collaboration with the CIM/GTZ to support deserving street children in Bogor / Indonesia, and gives young people a chance to get vocational training. He also has a private commitment for a school project in Southern India.
	Olaf Gieseler Managing Director CURATAX Treuhand GmbH Steuerberatungsgesellschaft Olaf Gieseler graduated in Financial Administration, and has been tax consultant for the Otto family in Hamburg since 1993. The main focus of his work as Managing Director of CURATAX Treuhand GmbH, apart from taxation matters concerned with non-profit organisations and cross-border activities, has been acquisition and divestment of companies, capital investments of all kinds, and structured financing.
	Peter Maffay Musician For more than 30 years, Peter Maffay has been known for the best in German-language rock music. He was also aware from a very early stage of his duty as a public personality to accept responsibility and a spokesman function in vital issues of social and societal policy. Peter Maffay has always played an active part in political thinking and action - in the peace movement, in environmental protection, and in his commitment against xenophobia and right-wing radicalism. And this commitment is also reflected in his artistic work.
	Janina Vater Manager "The Lolldaiga Institute", Laikipia, Kenya Janina Otto graduated in economics, and then spent 3 years in Africa, where she was engaged in development aid and environmental protection. Her work ranged from local "grassroots activities" (e.g. with the independent students' union FZS, and GTZ) to global-strategic projects (e.g. IUCN). Since 2004 she has been working on planning and implementation of the Cotton made in Africa project, which aims to establish sustainable cotton growing and further textile processing to selected developing countries of the Sub-Sahara Region.

Executive Board

Dr. Johannes Merck
Executive Director of the Aid by Trade Foundation

Dr. Johannes Merck holds a PhD in history, and worked initially on the academic staff of the German Parliament (Bundestag); he joined the Otto Group in 1989. As the Director for Corporate Responsibility he is a member of the Management Board, and since its creation in 1993 he has also been a Managing Director of the Michael Otto Foundation for Environmental Protection, which is dedicated to protection of water resources. On a private basis, Dr. Merck is also an active Member of the Committee of the German environmental protection organisation Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU).