Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

10 November 2021

Post No. 221

The Week’s Contents

• Festive Income Booster – In Focus for 2021 Edition: Spending Limit – How to live within your means

• 2021 “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature in Existence) Themed Activity and Action No.5 from Week beginning 08/11/2021: Genetically-modified and –engineered Crops

• Skills to Build Forward Better – Skills Focus from Wednesday 10/11/2021: Skills to Execute a Build-forward Plan (Implementation Skills)

… And much more!

COMING NEXT WEEK:

The 12th Women and Children FIRST Development Day (in short Development Day) will prolong our Reflection Day of last April as we will be celebrating and thinking of Foresight Skills to help improve our capacity to predict and forecast future risks and crises (similar to the coronavirus) as well as plan actions based on improved knowledge, estimations and prospect.

Additionally, by dealing with skills, this year’s Development Day will resonate with November month of Skills Development within CENFACS.

For further information, please contact CENFACS.

Key Messages

• Festive Income Booster – In Focus for 2021 Edition: Spending Limit – How to live within your means

The 2021 Edition of Festive Income Booster (FIB) focuses on Spending Limit. Indeed, in order to meet everyday consumption and the needs of poverty reduction, low income people and families need to spend or get support to spend if their income is not enough.

However, when talking about spending limit, low income people and families, especially those who live in poverty or on a very low budget, have a problem to limit their spending. The majority of them do not have enough income to cover the minimum required spending to live decently. Many of them cannot afford or sustain the minimum requirement of spending in terms of costs of living a decent life.

Yet, like everybody they need to consume to function as normal human beings. They are bound to consume in order to meet their basic life-sustaining needs (of food, shelter, transport, health, education, clothing, information, etc.) like everyone else. Around the special time of year, like of festive season, this life-sustaining requirement of spending could be even very pressuring for many of them in such a way that some of them can disregard the tenets of spending limit, the level of spending they may not afford or find help for.

To work with them and help them live within their financial means and capacities, the 2021 Edition of FIB deals with some of the key issues surrounding Spending Limit. Particularly, the 2021 Edition of FIB resource will provide multi-dimensional income poor children, young people and families (CYPFs) with some tips, hints and hacks to work out their realistic and reasonable limits for spending while considering the restrictions on spending stemming from third parties (like credit card payment or others).

The 2021 Edition of FIB refers to the definition of Spending Limit provided by some of the banking and financial institutions as a foundation from which we can build the notion of Spending Limit in order to extrapolate and customise it for multi-dimensional income poor CYPFs in the context of home economics.

The 2021 FIB Edition further explains how the respect of the basic financial rule like Spending Limit for these CYPFs can contribute to not only sound and sustainable financial management of poor households’ assets and liabilities but also to bring to them a happy life and future as they will have less concern about overspending.

Finally, the 2021 FIB Edition sends an unambiguous message to these CYPFs that they can still have a happy festive season without overspending or running an income deficit.

More information about this year’s Edition of Festive Income Booster has been provided under the Main Development section of this post.

There are pros and cons about Genetically Modified Crops (GMCs or GM Crops). In the context of “A la une” Campaign and of Action 5 regarding the Safeguard of Crop Wild Relatives, we are mostly interested in actions than talks or thoughts. Therefore, our actions will be on what one can do in order to tackle the disadvantages of GM Crops, particularly if these crops are wild relatives. However, one cannot take actions unless they understand what they are talking about. So, one may need to understand GM Crops.

• • Basic understanding of GM Crops

After reviewing the literature on GM Crops, we have selected their definition from the online website toppr.com (1) which defines them as follows:

“Genetically modified crops are plants used in agriculture, the DNA of which has been modified using genetic engineering methods. In most cases, the aim is to introduce a new trait to the plant which does not occur naturally in the species”.

Examples of GM Crops include: cotton, soya beans, maize, papaya, etc.

From the above definition, it makes sense to clarify the meaning of genetic engineering. The Oxford Dictionary of Environment and Conservation written by Chris Park (2), states that

“Genetic engineering is the selective, deliberate alteration of the genetic makeup [*DNA] of an organism by removing, modifying, or adding genes to a chromosome in order to change the information it contains, which enables cells or organisms to make new or different substances [*proteins] or perform new functions.” (p. 188)

As argued earlier, there are advantages and disadvantages about GM crops or plants. However, in the context of this campaign we are more interested in disadvantages than their advantages.

• • Disadvantages of GM Crops

Amongst the disadvantages that one can find within the literature and practice of GM Crops, and can come across are the following:

X Disruption of ecosystem and biodiversity

X Disruption of healthcare

X Increase in the cost of cultivation

X Marketization of for-profit farming to the detriment of not-for-profit farming

X Threats to the environment

X Risk to human health

Etc.

Because of the above disadvantages, which are documented in many research studies or work, there is a need to continue to take actions against these disadvantages.

• • Actions against Disadvantages relating to GM Crops

Many individuals and environmental and green organisations (e.g. the Friends of Earth) have been campaigning for years and decades about GM Crops since they came to life and to the market. The actions we are taking this week are the continuation and improvement of what it has been done so far. These actions are for example to STOP THE DISRUPTION OF THE ECOSYSTEM AND BIODIVERSITY via the introduction of new traits to plants which has far reaching consequences on the environment, humans, animals and plants themselves.

These actions are about the Safeguard of Crop Wild Relatives (like maize, pepper, avocado, etc.) to deal with some of the listed disadvantages relating to the genetic engineering of these crops.

To support this Fifth Action relating to the Safeguard of Crop Wild Relatives and to the “A la une” Campaign, please contact CENFACS.

• Skills to Build Forward Better – Skills Focus from Wednesday 10/11/2021: Skills to Execute a Build-forward Plan (Implementation Skills)

Our month of Skills Development continues as we are dealing with the Skills to Implement Build-forward Projects and Programme (or Implementation Skills). What do mean by Implementation Skills?

• • Knowing a little bit about Implementation Skills

Before summarising implementation skills, let us talk about implementation itself. According to the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Centre (3), implementation is

“The process of moving an idea from concept to reality”

In the guide of the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Centre, the implementation process is made of stages; each stage having specific steps and activities.

In this process of moving an idea from concept to reality, one may require skills or implementation skills.

Implementation Skills are the dexterity, ability and competences to turn a plan or strategy or programme (for example of building forward) into action. These are the competences and talents to follow a roadmap (such as implementation process) in order to achieve build-forward objectives. What are these skills?

• • Types of Implementation Skills

The Early Childhood Technical Assistance Centre (op. cit.) gives the following stages in the implementation process: exploration, installation, initial implementation, full implementation, and expansion and scale-up.

One can extirpate from the Early Childhood Technical Centre’s model of implementation process the following implementation skills.

• • • Exploration skills

They are the skills to identify the need for change and to decide to move ahead with implementation process.

• • • Installation skills

They are the skills to develop a written implementation plan and to build system capacity to support the implementation plan.

• • • Initial implementation skills

They are the skills to put the initial elements of your build-forward plan into practice where you think they can work and fit in.

• • • Skills for full implementation

They are the skills to assure that the practices of building forward are loyal and sustainable in providing expected outcomes at all levels.

• • • Skills to expand or scale up

They are the skills to help people increase the number of outcomes with fidelity.

So, those who need skills to build forward, they can refer to the Early Childhood Technical Centre’s model and find way or help to develop their implementation skills.

For those who need help from CENFACS about the implementation skills they need to execute their build-forward plan, they can let us know. Together we can work and explore the implementation skills they need in order to deliver their plan.

To get further insight into Skills Development Month at CENFACS, please continue to read our weekly posts. To support the Skills Development Month, please contact CENFACS.

Extra Messages

• Leafy Year and Skills Development Month

Leafy Year is our dedication of 2021 as a Year of Leaves within CENFACS, meaning that we are celebrating the role that leaves play in our work and life, particularly in helping us to help reduce poverty poverty and enhance sustainable development.

Leaves of Poverty Reduction have been instrumental in helping CENFACS to achieve its charitable objects since CENFACS began. This acknowledgement of leaves in our work continues in this November month of the Economics of Education and Skill Formation.

Skills Development Month is the month that we recognise the economic value of education as well as of the non-economic benefits from education. It is also the month we pay particular attention to the technology of skill formation.

During this month, we will be trying to work on the link between Leafy Year and Skills Development Month within CENFACS. This is because the skills and knowledge we have about leaves can help us to work together with our users and Africa-based Sister Organisations so that together we can achieve more and better results in terms of poverty reduction and enhancement of sustainable development.

To find more about how CENFACS is trying to deal with the relationship between the Year of Leaves and Skills Development Month, please contact CENFACS.

• CENFACS’ be.Africa Forum e-Discussion and Food for Thoughts

We have two areas of work through CENFACS’ be.Africa Forum; areas we expect people to share ideas and actions with us and between them. These areas are:

(a) E-discussion on the relationship between BEV (Battery, Electric Vehicle) and poverty reduction in Africa

(b) Thoughts on deforestation, methane, coal and poverty reduction as a result of COP26

• • CENFACS’ be.Africa Forum e-discusses the relationship between BEV (Battery, Electric Vehicle) and Poverty Reduction in Africa

As the Republic Democratic of Congo (DRC) is planning to host a multi-stakeholder Business Forum from 24 to 25 November 2021 to foster development of robust battery, electric vehicle (BEV) and renewable energy value chain and market in Africa; CENFACS’ be.Africa Forum would like to hear from you about how this BEV development will impact poverty reduction in Africa and in particular in the DRC.

Our e-discussion revolves around answering this question:

Is any relationship between the BEV development and poverty reduction in Africa? If, there is any, what is the direction of this relationship?

To tell CENFACS’ be.Africa Forum what you think, just contact CENFACS on this site.

• • CENFACS be.Africa Forum’s Food for Thoughts on Deforestation, Methane, Coal and Poverty Reduction as a result of COP26

As more than 100 world leaders promised to tackle deforestation, more than 100 countries joined a scheme to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030, and more than 40 countries agreed to shift away from coal; how these new developments will impact poverty reduction in Africa.

Our thoughts are about answering this question:

What will the change be in terms of poverty reduction in Africa if deforestation is seriously tackled, methane is reduced by 30% and there is global shift away from the fossil fuel coal?

To tell CENFACS’ be.Africa Forum what you think, just contact CENFACS on this site.

• Climate Protection and Stake for African Children – Phase 3 (CPSAC-P.3): Glasgow Steps It Up

Our process of advocating better climate deals for children, particularly but not exclusively African children, in the context of global climate talks continues this week as we are following what is happening during the climate talks which are still in progress in Glasgow.

As part our follow-up process, we followed young climate advocates and protesters, particularly on the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice on 06 November 2021. It is always interesting and a learning process when young climate advocates and enthusiasts put their heavy weight in to make their points during the global climate talks as they do and are doing for COP26. Whether it is about the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg or the Kenyan Elizabeth Wathuti or any other young climate personalities or young climate supporters, they carry weight in the climate debate and action.

In fact, when at CENFACS we talk about Climate Protection and Stake for African Children; it is about those young people and children who are pushing for concrete actions so that COP26 in Glasgow should not be another missing and wasted opportunity in living memory.

Some of these climate advocates and enthusiasts make and shape the current climate movements (like the Green Initiative in Kenya, the ‘Association congolaise de défense des droits des communautés affectées par l’exploitation forestière’ in the Democratic Republic of Congo, I Lead Climate in Nigeria, the ‘Association Jeunes volontaires pour l’environnement’ in Senegal, etc.) in Africa.

One can hope that their views and actions will be considered so that a truly net zero-carbon emissions world will come to effect for them and for future generations to come.

Having said that one can also hope that 28 Climate Campaigning Points made in our Compendia of Climate Advocacy will be considered at COP26 climate negotiations and final outcomes in Glasgow.

One can finally expect that Glasgow could step it up and make history happen for children and the generations to come.

To support CPSAC-P.3 and the sub-theme of ‘Glasgow Steps It Up’ as well as any of the 28 Climate Campaigning Points of CENFACS’ Compendia of Climate Advocacy, please contact CENFACS.

Le mois d’économie de l’éducation et de formation des compétences au sein de CENFACS continue avec au menu ce qui suit pour chaque mercredi.

Mercredi Compétences à mettre l’accent sur

03/11/2021: Compétences pour préparer un plan d’avancement

10/11/2021: Compétences pour éxécuter un plan d’avancement

17/11/2021: Compétences pour analyser les données de ce plan

24/11/2021: Compétences pour générer des revenus

Pour plus d’information à propos de ce calendrier de travail sur les compétences et pour demander un soutien sur des compétences relatives à votre plan d’avancement, veuillez contacter le CENFACS.

Main Development

• Festive Income Booster – In Focus for 2021 Edition: Spending Limit

How to live within your means

• • What is this year’s Festive Income Booster about

The Festive Income Booster is CENFACS’ Autumn ICDP (Autumn Individual Capacity Development Programme) and poverty-relieving resource that provides some income generation leads and tips. The 2021 Edition of this ICDP resource is about Spending Limit.

• • The contexts of this year’s Festive Income Booster: Economic, Climate and COVID-19 Contexts

The economic context of this year’s FIB is of soaring energy prices together with the prices of goods and services as the non-essential and essential business sectors are trying to catch up with losses made during the long period of COVID-19 lockdowns.

It is also a climate context of the rebound of CO2 emissions near pre-COVID-19 levels as transport, travel and other polluting activities have resumed or increased.

It is finally the context of return of COVID-19 cases in some places with all the health and other far reaching consequences.

In this kind of circumstances, the question is: How far should people and families, especially those who are income poor, go with spending?

This question remains unsolvable and a tricky one for many of them. This demands the use and or development of appropriate skills to deal with spending within this complex situation.

Spending Limit existed before these conditions appear and has always been there. However, under the current conditions and constraints, Spending Limit has become harder for them to maintain or manage. The 2021 Edition of FIB is a resource to help them find the tips and hints they need in order to prudently approach their Spending Limit.

• • Who the 2021 FIB resource is for

Festive Income Boost is for Multi-dimensionally Income Poor Children, Young People and Families (MIPCYPFs) and it is designed to support them throughout the entire festive season and beyond.

• • Key Concepts

There are two key concepts to help the users of the 2021 FIB resource.

The first key concept in this Edition is Spending Limit. The other key term is real disposable income.

(a) Spending Limit.

The 2021 FIB resource uses an online definition of Spending Limit as given by the website lawinsider.com (4) as follows:

“Spending limit means any daily restriction on the amount that the Cardholder can spend when making a Transaction. The Spending Limit on a Deposit Card will be set at zero”.

This website uses a number of variant definitions of Spending Limit to explain the same idea in different ways. The common denominator from these variant definitions of Spending Limit is that there is a maximum amount or available overdraft/balance that the Cardholder should not cross. This is the limit.

One can use the above banking or financial definition to set up their own Spending Limit which could be on a daily or monthly or quarterly basis. When setting up self-agreed Spending Limit, they will include any Spending Limit they have with any third parties (like a bank or financial institution). This self-agreed Spending Limit can be on the overall spending that a person or family agrees to set up on a daily or weekly or monthly basis.

Following this idea, MIPCYPFs can set up their own total Spending Limit according to their circumstances and means so that they do not overspend or run into deficit. The trouble is that many of them may not have the necessary resources they need in order to organise such a Spending Limit.

To overcome this problem, through the 2021 Edition of FIB we shall try to work with them so that they could understand or improve their understanding of this notion of Spending Limit and develop an overall Spending Limit policy for those who need it. Our work with them will be customised; meaning that not done on the basis of ‘one-size-fits-all’.

(b) Real disposable income

Real disposable income is one of the factors that influence Spending Limit. Disposable income is an income after the deduction of direct taxes and addition of welfare benefits.

So, knowing their real disposable income, MIPCYPFs can be in a better position to use it to determine their Spending Limit. However, they also need to consider other economic factors such as inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, the cost of accessing and servicing debts, savings, their own confidence, COVID-19, etc.

The above two key terms or concepts (Spending Limit and real disposable income) and any others will be considered when one is trying to navigate their way of setting up a Spending Limit that is realistic and suitable to them and other parties they are dealing with (such as banks or card companies).

• • Key Highlights

As the focus for this year’s edition is on Spending Limit, the resource includes the following items:

∝ How to set up a Spending Limit that matches your personal circumstances in terms of your earning capacity, assets and liabilities, savings and owing, support from others, etc.

∝ How to keep your Spending Limit manageable and affordable

∝ How to work out your overall debit balance (beyond the bank balance)

∝ How to respect what you have agreed by yourself as your Spending Limit

∝ How to restrict to what you have agreed with others (e.g. banks) as your Spending Limit

∝ How not to cross your Spending Limit transactions/arranged overdrafts/amount of available funds

∝ How not to go in your spending beyond the maximum debit balance permitted or the maximum permissible limit prescribed to you by third parties

∝ End-of-the-year earning opportunities and openings to cover the Spending Limit

∝ How to earn and save money in the post-COVID-19 era

∝ Online and offline opportunities from both essential and non-essential economic activities

∝ How to successfully manage Spending Limit during the festive season

∝ Tips and hints to make savings from Spending Limit

For example, how can you improve your spending habits and plans during the festive season?

• • What other highlights it covers

The resource covers some ways of dealing with the following:

√ Casual job interview questions (online, video calls and distance job interviews)

√ Seasonal job search techniques (for both online and offline searches)

√ Job search engines and leads

√ Guidance on job applications and CV

√ Reference building techniques

√ How to highlight your skills in your job application and or CV

√ Job adverts and alerts

√ Credit history or score

√ Diary of online job fairs and events

√ Job matching to person specification and profile

√ Online job fraud and employment agency scams

√ Details can potential employers ask and not ask as well as how they can ask them

√ What details to provide and not to provide in your job enquiries and when filling job applications

Etc.

It goes further in exploring e-skills as well as stages and steps that poor families can take to skill up themselves.

In addition, the resource covers security and protection matters when trying to organise Spending Limit or generate a little extra income to make ends meet. In this respect, it deals again with the general data protection regulations, child protection and safeguarding issues as well as COVID-19 restrictions for jobs where these requirements apply.

The resource does not stop there as it includes online employment agency scams and job advert scams which sometimes has dramatically increased in today’s world and employment market as there are always unscrupulous players (scammers, hackers and fraudsters) on the market who try to take advantage of the poor and vulnerable people like MIPCYPFs.

• • What’s more?

The resource finally reminds us the areas of law or legal requirements in terms of whatever we do to try to organise Spending Limit or raise additional household income to reduce poverty. We should always try to lawfully act and live within our means.

• • How to access this resource

The resource will be available as a booklet from CENFACS e-Store. It is normally free of charge but we will appreciate a donation of £5 to help us help reduce poverty and the cost of renewing and producing this resource on an annual basis. As the side effects of COVID-19 and subsequent lockdowns continue to have repercussions on us, we need financial help like many voluntary and charitable organisations do.

To order and or find out more about the Autumn ICDP resource, please contact CENFACS with your contact details.

_________

• References

(1) https://www.toppr.com/ask/questions/define-the-term-genetically-modified-crops/ (accessed in November 2021)

(2) Park C., (2010), Oxford Dictionary of Environment and Conservation, Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York

(3) https://ectacenter.org/~pdfs/implementprocess/implementprocess-stagesandsteps.pdf (accessed in November 2021)

(4) https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionaryspendinglimit# (accessed in November 2021)

________

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One could consider a recurring donation to CENFACS in the future.

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Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.

Thank you as well to those who made or make comments about our weekly posts.

We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support throughout 2021 and beyond.

With many thanks.

Spending Limit