Scaling Up the Fight Against Rural Poverty - FIDAfrique

eports carry different names at different stages, the report outlines remain the same (see discussion
below). There is thus one report format that drives project formulation, design and appraisal. For the
question, whether and how scaling up is addressed in the project design phase, the guidance documents
for this report format are thus of particular importance.
Six principles of engagement guide IFAD’s project design. These six principles of engagement are
enunciated in IFAD’s Strategic Framework 2007-2010 (see Box 4). (IFAD 2007c) The fourth principle
includes a reference to scaling up.
Box 4: IFAD’s Six Principles of
Engagement
• Selectivity and focus of
operations
• Targeting of the poor and
disadvantaged
• Empowerment of poor rural
people
• Innovation, learning and scaling
up
• Effective partnership with
national and international
stakeholders
• Sustainability of development
Source: IFAD 2007c
Box 5: IFAD’s Six Key Success Factors (KSFs)
KSF1: Country relevance, commitment and
partnerships
KSF2: Poverty, social capital and targeting
KSF3: Best practices and lessons learnt within the
context of IFAD´s Strategic Framework
KSF4: Institutional aspects – identification and
capacities and implementing agencies and partners
KSF5: Risks and mitigation – complementing good
design
KSF6: Innovation, learning/scaling up and
knowledge management
Source: IFAD 2007c
Of central importance to project design are the six Key Success Factors. They are listed in Box 5.
These key success factors, and the specific questions that project documents have to address under
each of the factors, play an essential role in guiding the design phase of IFAD projects. Originally
scaling-up was not part of the KSFs. KSF6 referred to “Innovation, learning and knowledge
management”, but not to “scaling-up”. Recently, KSF6 was revised to add “scaling up” (as shown in
Box 5). This is encouraging. Going forward, however, the guidelines for project design and the
guidance questions for the Key Success Factors also need to be revised to address requirements for
scaling up (institutional requirement, sustainability issues, monitoring and evaluation, targeting,
implementation arrangements, best practices). Guiding questions need to be formulated that raise the
relevant issues for scaling up and best practise examples should be provided.
Closely related is the important role that the Country Program Management Team (CPTM) and
stakeholder engagement play in IFAD processes and activities. Active engagement of the entire CPTM
and of stakeholders in the design of projects is deemed of great importance in IFAD. It is a core
operating principle for IFAD to listen to national and local actors and to assign them key roles in all
activities conducted during the project cycle. For the project design phase, the start-up workshop,
undertaken in-country early on before design work starts, is a well-established event which marks the
opening of virtually all IFAD projects. (IFAD 2006b) If IFAD wishes to help lay out pathways for
scaling up, then major issues that shape this pathway will need to be raised during this stakeholder
workshop. As participants in stakeholder workshops are mostly from the country where the
programme is to be implemented, raising the scaling up questions will be important for creating
awareness and sensitivity in country for the issues to be addressed to lay the pathway to scaling-up.
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