[vc_row][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1744909738521{margin-bottom: 50px !important;}”][vc_tta_tabs color=”white” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fas fa-info” add_icon=”true” title=”About the session” tab_id=”1746018045080-a6077f0f-323bfb9b-b8b7″][vc_column_text]This FfD4 hybrid side-event—co-hosted by AFD and the Scaling Community of Practice—gathered development leaders, funders, and implementers to tackle one big question: how to achieve impact at scale in a world of shrinking aid budgets. Rather than pilot after pilot, speakers called for systemic change: long-term, locally-owned, evidence-based scaling strategies embedded in institutions from day one. We have eight takeaways:

1. Stop stacking pilots. The international development sector is a “junkyard of pilots”—solutions must be designed from the start to scale, not as afterthoughts.
2. Governments must lead. Donors should stop expecting governments to adopt solutions late in the game. Local ownership is non-negotiable.
3. Think in systems, not projects. Scaling means changing how institutions function—not just increasing project size or funding.
4. Long timelines, steady commitment. Scaling takes 10–15 years. That demands long-term, flexible support—not short-term, fragmented funding.
5. Remake incentive structures. Donors and agencies are still rewarded for visibility and volume, not sustainable outcomes. That has to shift.
6. Evidence matters, but so does adaptation. Impact data is essential, but real-world scaling requires learning, iteration, and local fit.
7. Scaling needs more than funding, it needs an ecosystem. Scaling needs enabling environments: policies, partners, business models, and capacity. Reductions in funding offer an opportunity to re-think how to leverage the larger ecosystem.
8. Seize the moment. Fiscal constraints, institutional fatigue, and global pressure are aligning. Now is the moment to make scaling the norm, not the exception.

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