This is a draft report open for comment until August 17th. Readers are invited to share comments to richardkohl@strategyandscale.com. Abstract This paper presents a comparative analysis of case studies on mainstreaming scaling within international development organizations, with a particular focus on agri-food funders and research organizations. Drawing on roughly fifteen studies - six from the agri-food sector, including CGIAR, HarvestPlus, IFAD, the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, and two from USAID’s Feed the Future program – it compares the extent ...

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: Stop stacking pilots. The international development sector is a “junkyard of pilots”—solutions must be designed from the start to scale, ...

This CGIAR Mainstreaming Scaling Webinar presents three integrated approaches that are shaping how innovation scaling is embedded across CGIAR research and implementation. First, it introduces the Scaling Readiness approached —developed in the late 2010s and now applied to >1000 of CGIAR innovations to clarify scaling intent, assess readiness, identify bottlenecks, and engage scaling partners. Second, it explores CGIAR’s Innovation Portfolio Monitoring and Management system, which uses Scaling Readiness data to track innovation maturity and scaling progress within a robust performance ...

Abstract Funder practices significantly shape the ability of recipients—primarily implementing organizations in the Global South—to achieve sustainable outcomes at scale. This report examines recipients' perspectives on how funders' actions and requirements affect their capacity to scale development interventions effectively and sustainably. Drawing on key informant interviews, written stories, and a focus group, this report provides insight into recurring challenges and identifies actionable opportunities to improve funder-recipient dynamics. The report finds that, according to recipients, funders vary widely in their understanding ...

Description Times are turbulent, to put it mildly. Last year, the UN’s Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2024 puts the SDG investment and financing gaps at between USD 2.5 trillion and USD 4 trillion annually. This was evidently before further financing cuts hit the development cooperation sector. Given the uncertainty that is likely to prevail for some time and the sums involved, closing these gaps entirely with additional financing is unlikely. More finance must be coupled with a more effective ...

Executive Summary The DG Murray Trust (DGMT) is a South African foundation which positions itself as a ‘public innovator through strategic investment.’ It focuses on ten opportunities to escape the inequality trap in which that country is stuck.  This trap is characterised by inadequate investment in child nutrition and early learning, poor school outcomes, high unemployment and low productivity growth. Breaking this cycle requires fundamental and large-scale shifts in the structure of society and the economy. Given its positioning, national-level ...