Putting the Responsible into Scaling Readiness: Integrating GenderUp with CGIAR’s IPSR Process

Katheryn Gregerson (UC Davis) and Susanne Bodach (IWMI) providing a role-play to invite participants to join the session at Scaling Week 2024 (photo credit: CGIAR).

The process of successfully scaling an innovation requires understanding the social, economic, and environmental factors that influence the adoption and potential impact of innovations. A persistent challenge remains: how can we ensure that scaling efforts uphold responsible research and innovation values, such as fostering relevant diversity, considering trade-offs, and anticipating negative consequences? And how effective can we, as researchers, be in scaling innovation for positive social impact if we fail to do so?

The Innovation Packages and Scaling Readiness (IPSR) framework, developed by CGIAR and being rolled out across its science Programs, usefully provides a structured approach to assessing the readiness and scalability of agricultural innovations. But participants in a session held during CGIAR’s third annual Scaling Week, on 4 December 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya, highlighted critical gender and inclusion gaps in the application of IPSR.

The participants agreed that by integrating GenderUp, a diagnostic tool developed by the University of California at Davis, the CGIAR’s Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and Wageningen University to integrate social differentiation in scaling processes, CGIAR can make its scaling strategies more inclusive. Many of the researchers in this session acknowledged that they are not adequately equipped to integrate gender considerations into their scaling work; others noted how often such considerations are treated by researchers as afterthoughts or mere boxes to tick. They also agreed that CGIAR should test other responsible scaling tools, such as the Reach, Benefit, Empower, and Transform (RBET) framework and the CGIAR’s Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI).  

The session concluded with a consensus that inclusive frameworks must be systematically embedded into CGIAR’s scaling work. In particular, the participants agreed that gender equity, inclusivity, and other responsible scaling core practices must be incorporated into CGIAR’s new Scaling for Impact Program from the earliest stages to ensure that these practices are treated as central rather than add-ons to the research process.

Erin McGuire (UC Davis) and Nicoletta Buono (ILRI) speaking at the IPSR-GenderUp session at Scaling Week 2024 (photo credit: CGIAR).

Why “responsible scaling”?

Responsible scaling requires integrating equity, inclusion, and sustainability from the outset of work to scale an agricultural innovation—considering not only gender but also the broader social, economic, and environmental impacts of the scaling efforts. For example, supporting women farmers as equitably as men means addressing barriers to women’s resources, decision-making, and market access. Likewise, scaling efforts must move beyond expansion for its own sake and prioritize outcomes that create lasting, positive change. This requires diverse, multidisciplinary teams—including social scientists and gender researchers—to be engaged from the start of scaling work. Tools like GenderUp can help ensure that innovations are scalable but also equitable, inclusive, and sustainable for all stakeholders.

GenderUp provides a structured approach to identifying and addressing gender and other social biases in innovation scaling, an important dimension of responsible scaling. GenderUp also provides a structured method for considering trade-offs and anticipating any negative consequences of scaling an innovation—ensuring it does no harm. Integrating GenderUp into the IPSR process is more than a methodological enhancement of that process—it is a strategic imperative for ensuring that agricultural innovations reach and benefit all members of society equitably. Guiding teams to serve more people is a win-win for IPSR and CGIAR.

Gaps in CGIAR’s Scaling Readiness Process

The participants in this meeting highlighted the following key challenges in gender and inclusion within the IPSR process through structured group discussions and analyses.

1. Limited gender-specific metrics: While the IPSR framework identifies enabling and limiting factors that must be addressed in scaling processes, it lacks specific indicators that track gender disparities in access to resources, decision-making power, and benefits from scaled innovations.
2. Unequal participation in innovation design: Many innovations are developed with limited input from women and marginalized groups, leading to solutions that do not fully address their unique needs and constraints and limited adoption of the innovations.
3. Structural barriers in partner engagement: Scaling often requires working with private–sector actors, policymakers, and development organizations. However, gender-responsive engagement strategies are not systematically embedded in these partnerships, leading to gender-blind implementation.
4. Context-specific constraints: Social norms, labor divisions, and legal restrictions can vary significantly across regions, affecting how women and marginalized communities engage with and benefit from innovations. These contextual factors are often underrepresented in scaling assessments despite the perceived importance of creating “enabling environments.”

IWMI’s Susanne Bodach and ILRI’s Esther Kihoro speaking at CGIAR Science Week 2024 (photo credit: CGIAR).

The IPSR process occurs in four stages, each of which can integrate gender equality and social inclusion in the following ways (see also these participant insights from a report of a workshop conducted earlier, in March 2024).

Stage 1: Innovation profiling and ideation

Before an innovation takes shape, an assessment is essential to identify gender equality and social inclusion opportunities and constraints, ensuring that the innovation serves diverse groups, including farmers, youth, and other actors across the food system value chain. Early engagement with potential users and scaling partners clarifies who the innovation targets and how it will be implemented. Additionally, the demand for the innovation must be assessed—and the specific needs and priorities of women and other social groups considered, as well as the nature of the participation of partners.

• Identify systemic barriers early: Assess existing inequalities in access to resources, knowledge, and decision-making that may hinder inclusive scaling.
• Ensure co-design and participation: Engage diverse stakeholders, particularly women, youth, and marginalized groups, in shaping the innovation from the outset to reflect their needs.
• Understand trade-offs and risks: Consider any potential negative consequences of implementing the innovation, such as reinforcing existing inequalities, and design mitigation strategies.

Stage 2: Innovation packaging and acceleration

Once an innovation concept is established, it must be packaged—combined with different social and technological innovations depending on its particular context—and adapted for different users. Ensuring accessibility means, for example, translating materials into local languages and finding ways to include less formally educated individuals. A diverse range of participants—gender, age, location, education, and wealth—should be actively involved, with facilitators trained in gender equality and social inclusion. Tailoring the innovation package to different needs ensures that solutions are effective and responsible within the broader societal impact.

• Ensure context-specific adaptation: Modify the innovation package to fit different cultural, economic, and environmental conditions, ensuring accessibility for all.
• Expand access through inclusive communication: Provide training materials in relevant languages and use visual or audio formats for those with low literacy levels.
• Monitor who benefits and who is left behind: Establish metrics to track gender, age, and social group participation, adjusting outreach if disparities emerge.
  

Stage 3: Innovation scaling strategy development and implementation

As the innovation moves toward large-scale adoption, its scaling strategy must be carefully designed and iteratively adjusted. A balanced team, inclusive of gender experts, ensures that marginalized voices are heard, and the strategy reflects multiple dimensions and overlapping social differentiation(such as intersectionality). Tools such as foresight analyses assess trade-offs and prevent unintended consequences.

• Prioritize outcomes over expansion: Focus on meaningful improvements in livelihoods, nutrition, and resilience rather than just reaching many people.
• Use foresight and risk analysis tools: Identify potential power shifts, unintended economic consequences, and environmental impacts of scaling the innovation.
• Enable locally led scaling: Strengthen local institutions, cooperatives, and networks to take ownership of the innovation rather than relying on external actors.
• Ensure responsible scaling activities are allocated sufficient funding and activity bandwidth: Program managers and operational frameworks should account for innovation dissemination. Strategic partnerships are needed to ensure aspects that are beyond the project scope can be implemented by partners who aligned with the identified needs

Stage 4: Innovation portfolio management

Once innovations are scaled, a portfolio approach ensures that impact areas and target groups remain adequately covered. Regular portfolio health checks help track progress, while governance structures with clear terms of reference guide responsible scaling. Flexibility is crucial, allowing projects to pivot when needed based on learning and evolving needs. Adaptive management techniques allow for ongoing assessment and adjustments based on real-world applications.

• Conduct equity and impact audits: Be aware of whether innovations are benefiting diverse populations equitably and adjust approaches as needed.
• Employ mitigating activities: Ensure researchers and scale pilots know how to make their innovations and innovation scaling work reach their intended users.
• Develop equity measurements: Understand the cost-effectiveness and returns on investment for innovations, also from an equity perspective: who bears risks and benefits most?
• Maintain flexibility and responsiveness: Ensure the scaling strategy can adapt to emerging challenges, shifts in policy, or evolving market dynamics.

Conclusion

The integration of GenderUp within CGIAR’s IPSR process will help ensure that its scaling efforts do not reinforce existing inequalities but instead contribute to a more inclusive and just agricultural transformation. This requires intentional approaches and the capacity and buy-in of current IPSR facilitators and the broader CGIAR and partner ecosystem.

Written by Hanna Ewell (CGIAR Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT), Erin McGuire (University of California at Davis, UC Davis), Esther Kihoro (CGIAR International Livestock Research Institute, ILRI) and Susanne Bodach (CGIAR’s International Water Management Institute, IWMI)