Scaling Up the Fight Against Rural Poverty - FIDAfrique

Moreover, IFAD has had some success stories in developing effective scaled up value chain programs
and has recently much intensified its attention to this issue. However, the effectiveness of its
engagement in this area remains to be fully tested. A systematic assessment has yet to be made how
IFAD can best use the value chain approach to pursue an effective scaling up approach for rural
livelihood development.
D. Corporate evaluation of innovation and scaling up in IFAD’s programs
In April 2010 IFAD’s Independent Office of Evaluation presented to the Evaluation Committee of the
IFAD Executive Board the findings of EIS, its major evaluation of innovation and scaling up at
IFAD. 22 This evaluation was principally focused on innovation, but also explored IFAD’s operational
approach to scaling up.
The evaluation is based on a broad range of information inputs, including an assessment of IFAD’s
strategic directions; of the evaluation results of the completed project portfolio; of the approach in
recent country strategies and ongoing projects; and of the results of a survey of IFAD’s operational
staff.
The evaluation concludes that the importance of scaling up has been stressed for some time in IFAD’s
strategic documents, and it cites specific cases of successful scaling up in country programs. But it also
concludes that scaling up has generally not been effectively built into country programs. “While there
are some examples of successful scaling up, the resources allocated for the purposes are insufficient
and staff skills are not adequate for the purpose. Up scaling has largely occurred in an informal and
unsystematic manner largely due to individual initiatives.” 23 The evaluation concludes that IFAD
needs to “[t]reat scaling up as mission-critical”. 24
E. Conclusions
The main findings of this chapter are fourfold:
IFAD has good examples of scaling up in its country and thematic programs.
IFAD’s successful scaling up experiences can provide helpful insights and lessons into how to
design appropriate scaling up pathways and should be systematically assessed as part of a
future scaling up knowledge management initiative.
In general, however, scaling up has not been a systematic focus of IFAD’s country and
thematic programs.
IFAD would benefit from a more systematic approach to scaling up. The remainder of this
review explores various aspects of how this could be done.
22 IFAD Independent Office of Evaluation (2010).
23 Ibid., Executive Summary, p. 26.
24 Ibid., Executive Summary, para. 125.
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