Adaptive Scaling to Achieve System Transformation in CGIAR

Scaling agricultural innovations remains central to achieving development outcomes, yet prevailing approaches often equate success with widespread adoption of discrete technologies. Tools such as stage gating, scaling readiness, and scaling scans help assess scalability but do not sufficiently address the systemic changes required for sustained impact. Evidence shows that adoption alone does not guarantee improvements in productivity, food security, or environmental outcomes without parallel shifts in institutions, incentives, and market structures. This technical brief reframes scaling as a dynamic, system-wide process embedded in complex socio-economic, ecological, and policy environments. Building on innovation systems and ecosystem thinking, the Adaptive Scaling Ecosystem (ASEco) framework conceptualizes scaling as a co-evolutionary process involving multiple actors, networks, and subsystems. It emphasizes four interconnected functions—niche, reach, accelerate, and transform—guided by five principles: adaptability, responsiveness, reflectiveness, inclusiveness, and flexibility. Together, these enable continuous learning, coordination, and adjustment across scaling pathways. Niche supports experimentation and innovation development; reach drives adoption and market expansion; accelerate strengthens enabling environments and investments; and transform reshapes system structures, governance, and practices. Application of ASEco demonstrates how combining technological, financial, and institutional innovations can address systemic barriers, strengthen value chains, and foster inclusive participation. Adaptive scaling highlights the importance of multi-actor collaboration, context-specific pathways, and feedback loops to manage trade-offs and risks. By embedding scaling within innovation ecosystems, CGIAR can better align interventions with its impact areas, including poverty reduction, food security, gender equality, and climate resilience. This approach ultimately enables more sustainable, inclusive, and transformative outcomes at scale.