Scaling Up Science and Practice

Regenerate Africa has been associated with ExpandNet since 2010 and an active member in helping to advance the science and practice of scale up in keeping with ExpandNet’s mission. ExpandNet defines scale up using ExpandNet’s definition which is: “Deliberate efforts to increase the impact of innovations successfully tested ​in pilot or experimental projects so as to benefit more people and to foster policy and program development on a lasting basis.”

We live in an era that urgently needs to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, ambitious climate agreements, and building back better post the COVID-19 crisis. We face enormous interconnected challenges: from ending hunger and improving nutrition, to preserving vital ecosystems, tackling climate change, empowering women, and ending poverty, among many others. This calls for large-scale social and environmental transformation and critical focus on achieving sustainable development impact at scale by development actors, governments, and institutions. We need to change course and embrace new attitudes, new skills, and new ways of working faster and smarter if we want to produce sustainable systems change at scale. However, far too many promising innovations fail to successfully scale their impact. This failure is often due to a lack of knowledge about how to manage this long and difficult process, and weaknesses or inefficiencies in the surrounding ecosystem, including access to finance, human capital, or supportive policies and regulation. This reality inhibits the acceleration of promising solutions and their sustainable integration into systems.

Regenerate Africa applies ExpandNet’s systematic approach to scale up in its work with a range of actors, including governments, NGOs, social entrepreneurs, development agencies, and academia to ensure a better understanding of what works for scaling and more effective incorporation of scaling into the day-to-day work of development practitioners. We support building organisational and institutional capacity both to mainstream scaling into organisations’ strategies, policies, and operational practices, and to design for scale from the start.