ARTICLE 1 5 BOARD OF DIRECTORS 1 . The Board of Directors shall be composed of 13 voting members and E x officio members . Membership shall comprise : (a) Chairperson ; (b) Vice Chairperson ; (c) Eight members representing the full range of R&D stakeholders including farmers, public sector, agribusiness, agricultural educatio n and agricultural civil society organizations, in line with CAADP an d FAAP principles, and spread over States Parties ; (d) Representative of SADC Secretariat being a Permanent Seat o n the Board; (e) Financial expert ; (f) Legal expert ; (g) Ex-Officio members: i. FARA representative ii. Environmental expert . 2 All members of the Board of Directors shall hold office for a period of tw o years except for the first Board where the remaining 50% of the inceptio n members shall retire after three years . 3 Membership to the Board of Directors shall be on a rotational basi s among States Parties. ARTICLE 1 6 FUNCTIONS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTOR S The functions of the Board of Directors shall be to : Provide oversight and direction to CCARDESA Secretariat ; 1. 2. Appoint, renew or terminate the services of the Executive Director of CCARDESA Secretariat ; Establish Committees of the Board of Directors to guide and supervis e 3. the work of the CCARDESA Secretariat and to review and approve administrative and financial management systems ; 4 Approve overall operational policies and strategic plans o f CCARDESA, specifically Strategic Plan, annual work plans, budget an d financing plans ; and 5 Select new members of the Board based on the principles establishe d in Article 15 of this Charter. 9