Ananke: Celebrating Visionary Women Features FEED’s Director on Partnerships & Green Thumbs

25 January 2017, Ananke Magazine, MENA. Ananke is a non-profit, online interactive platform engaging women across the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region and beyond. It is a platform showcasing women trailblazers, visionaries, women in leadership positions as role models for young women, seeking inspiration, guidance and mentoring in the MENA region. They recently did a short interview feature on FEED’s Director of Partnerships, Anne-Marie Mananquil Bakker, about the organisation’s “green thumb” spirit and advocacies in agro-forestry in the Philippines.

Extracts of ANNE’S GREEN THUMB AND FEED: Ananke’s Claire Dangalan had the opportunity to talk to Anne late last 2016, and discuss her life and their work at FEED.

“Tell us something about FEED.org.ph

FEED is based in and focused on work in the Philippines where I spend half my time, while working as Head of WEnergy Global, a renewable energy solutions provider also based in Singapore. FEED is a non-stock, non-profit, non-governmental organization registered with the Philippine Securities & Exchange Commission.

We support sustainable education and tree planting, aiming to inclusively grow, preserve and protect Philippine biodiversity, both marine and terrestrial flora, through integrated social forestry programs, community development initiatives, and scientific and practical research into agricultural, environmental, farming, forestry and fisheries studies…

Welcome at DMMMSU

What were the initial hiccups encountered?

Generating interest and, more importantly, inciting people into action were the biggest challenges, on top of private sector and government hurdles. To date, this remains a challenge but we have set our sights and reached out to individuals and organizations who have a heart and who have similar objectives, because having to fight or convert people requires too much energy lost in unnecessary distractions. We always move where it is feasible; the size of the organization or influence of the individual is secondary – what matters to us is commitment and sincerity.

Currently, although a number of us are hard at work towards the nexus (water-food-energy security), issues involving trust, commitment and sincere effort remain. In any field or endeavor, finding people who can actually commit and make an effort and translate their commitment into action is difficult. But among those of us who do, we know we can actually cover a lot as we continue to align ourselves better instead of obstinately believing that each one’s way is the only way.”

FEED encourages the active role of women in agroforestry, education, and environmental preservation. Read the original and full article here: http://anankemag.com/2017/01/25/annes-green-thumb-and-feed/

About Ananke Magazine

Ananke strives to create social impact by advocating empowerment through awareness, information and education. We are a multidimensional forum where women share knowledge, interact, seek and gain guidance, striving to: