Henk Staghouwer (born 14 February 1962) is a Dutch administrator and Christian Union politician. He served as Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality in the

fourth Rutte cabinet The fourth Rutte cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 10 January 2022 until 2 July 2024. The cabinet was a continuation of the third Rutte cabinet and was formed by the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( ...

from 10 January to 5 September 2022. From 24 April 2013 to 10 January 2022 he was a member of the

provincial executive The provincial executive (, GS) is the executive branch of government of a province in the Netherlands. It is the equivalent of the municipal executive at the provincial level. The provincial executive consists of the King's Commissioner (chair) ...

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

Education and career

Staghouwer went to middle school from 1974 to 1978, and from 1978 to 1982 he followed a vocational training course at the present Noorderpoort in

, and from 1981 to 1982, he followed an entrepreneurial course at the present Piter Jelles in

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; ; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 127,073 (2023). It is the provincial capital and seat of the Provin ...

. From 1978 to 1989, he worked at a bakery in Zuidhorn, and from 1989 to 2012, he was director and owner of bakery chain Staghouwer. Until 2013, Staghouwer also held various additional positions, such as board member of the Company Pension Fund for the Bakery, Kredietunie Nederland, and the Kredietunie voor de Bakkerij. Until April 2015, he was a part-time deputy, and he was also treasurer of the Dutch Bread and Pastry Bakers Association NBOV, and advisor to the PUM, Program Broadcast Managers.

Political career

Staghouwer was a member of the

Provincial Council of Groningen The Provincial Council of Groningen (, ), also known as the States of Groningen, is the provincial council of Groningen, Netherlands. It forms the legislative body of the province. Its 43 seats are distributed every four years in provincial el ...

from 2002 to 2013, becoming the Christian Union's group leader in 2007. From 2013, he was deputy of Groningen, succeeding Wiebe van der Ploeg. His portfolio included topsoil (damage, reinforcement, governance), agriculture and fisheries, nature and landscape, Wadden and Wadden Fund, internationalization and area North Groningen (Het Hogeland, Eemsdelta). Since the departure of Deputy Nienke Homan on 1 December 2021 he also had climate adaptation and water in his portfolio. In November 2021, Deputy Staghouwer came under fire because of a letter he sent on his own initiative in June to outgoing Minister of Economic Affairs

Stef Blok Stephanus Abraham "Stef" Blok (born 10 December 1964) is a Dutch politician who served as Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy in the Third Rutte cabinet from 25 May 2021 till 10 January 2022. He is a member of the People's Party for ...

as chairman of the Groningen Reinforcement Consultation (VOG). This was a letter of support not to implement the amendments of Socialist lawmaker

Sandra Beckerman Sandra Mariët Beckerman (born 31 March 1983) is a Dutch politician of the Socialist Party (Netherlands), Socialist Party. Early life She was born in Veenendaal. Beckerman is a PhD archaeologist, specialised in ceramic analysis, and studied a ...

. These amendments adopted by the House of Representatives (changes to a bill) were intended to support Groningen residents who are dealing with the consequences of gas extraction by means of legal assistance, and to offer them the opportunity to take control of the reinforcement process themselves. Minister Blok wanted to ignore this amendment to the law because members of parliament Paul van Meenen (D66) and Agnes Mulder (CDA) accidentally voted for one of the two proposals on behalf of their group, resulting in a majority in the House. At the request of outgoing Minister Blok of Economic Affairs, Staghouwer sent this letter of support on behalf of the Groningen Reinforcement Consultation (VOG), without consulting other Groningen administrators. Staghouwer was appointed Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality in the

on 10 January 2022, succeeding party colleague

Carola Schouten Cornelia Johanna "Carola" Schouten (; born 6 October 1977) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Union (CU). She was Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and Third Deputy Prime Minister in the third Rutte cabinet from 2017 to 20 ...

. As a minister, his portfolio includes agriculture, horticulture, fisheries, food quality, animal welfare and animal health (DGF), plant breeders' rights, and the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority. He resigned on 5 September 2022, citing insufficient parliamentary confidence. Carola Schouten, now also minister for Poverty Policy, Participation and Pensions, returned as acting agriculture minister. On 3 October former Christian Union party chairman Piet Adema took office as minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. Staghouwer became chair of Food Banks Netherlands in January 2023.

Private life

Staghouwer is married and has three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Staghouwer, Henk Living people 1962 births Christian Union (Netherlands) politicians Members of the Provincial Council of Groningen Members of the Provincial-Executive of Groningen Ministers of agriculture of the Netherlands