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From
Scaling for Impact Program
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Published on
09.10.25
The Scaling Week in Latin America and the Caribbean strengthened a shared vision: scaling with responsibility and inclusion is the path to building more resilient, equitable, and sustainable agri-food systems.
By Daniela Arce Gómez, Communications Coordinator, Climate Action Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) at the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, and regional communications focal point for the CGIAR Scaling for Impact program in LAC
Scaling is not only about expanding the reach of an innovation. It means ensuring that science-based solutions truly and sustainably transform the lives of people, territories, and agri-food systems. Starting with a scaling mindset from the early stages of a project helps identify what works, for whom, and under what conditions. This leads to more effective strategies with deeper impacts that go beyond technical results, strengthening local capacities, influencing public policy, and consolidating collaborative networks.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, where agriculture faces growing challenges from climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequalities, scaling responsibly means promoting sustainable practices that secure dignified livelihoods, resilient systems, and more inclusive production. Adopting this approach from the beginning allows scientific results to become tangible transformations: better-adapted crops, locally appropriate innovations, and communities empowered to respond to climate change.
With this shared vision, from September 29 to October 3, 2025, the Scaling Week in Latin America and the Caribbean was held, organized by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, together with CIP and CIMMYT, under the CGIAR Scaling for Impact (S4I) program — a regional space for learning and collaboration that brought together CGIAR teams, implementing partners, and development actors to strengthen capacities and consolidate an active community of practice on scaling for impact.
Day 1: Foundations of Responsible Scaling in Agricultural Research for Development
The first day of Scaling Week opened a vital conversation for the future of innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean: understanding scaling as a profoundly human process. Discussions emphasized that scaling is not merely about expanding the use of a technology, but about driving social, political, and cultural transformations that endure over time.
From this perspective, responsible scaling emerged as a guiding principle that anticipates risks, avoids negative impacts, and builds inclusive solutions promoting well-being and sustainability. Participants highlighted the need to move away from linear approaches and adopt a systems view, where science, communities, and policies coevolve and strengthen one another.
It was agreed that beyond technologies, what must also be scaled are the processes, policies, local capacities, and institutional arrangements that sustain innovation in territories. At the same time, participants acknowledged the region’s deep structural challenges: the weakening of research and extension systems, gender and land access gaps, and the limited engagement of youth in agriculture.
Still, key enabling conditions for change were also identified deep territorial knowledge, the active participation of communities, women, and youth, and strong alliances among research, governments, civil society, and the private sector. Examples such as demonstration plots, community promoters, local cooperatives, and the integration of ancestral knowledge showed that the path toward responsible scaling is already underway.
By the end of the day, a shared conviction had taken root: in Latin America and the Caribbean, scaling is not about spreading more, but transforming better. Success will depend on ensuring that innovations strengthen climate resilience, promote social equity, and build sustainable futures: with science and communities working hand in hand.
Day 1 Participants
Welcome and introduction:
- Maya Rajasekharan, Alliance Bioversity–CIAT
- Juan Sebastián Rivas, Alliance Bioversity–CIAT (Host)
Thematic presentation:
- Deissy Martínez-Barón, Alliance Bioversity–CIAT
Panel discussion:
Moderator:
- Ana Carolina Rodríguez, CIP
Panelists:
- Ediner Fuentes, SENACYT (Panama)
- Danilo Guerra, ASORECH (Guatemala)
- Gabriela, Association for Rural Development Cooperation in Western Guatemala (CDRO)
🎥 Watch the session: Scaling Week – Day 1
Day 2: The Role of Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) in Scaling for Impact
The second day focused on Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS), recognizing them as cornerstones for the sustainability of responsible scaling. Discussions revolved around a central idea: these systems are not just technical platforms, but social, institutional, and political networks that connect science with the realities of territories.
AKIS were described as engines of articulation, bringing together actors, capacities, and enabling environments that foster co-creation and collective learning. Within these systems, the legitimacy of innovation depends not only on scientific soundness but also on social and cultural relevance. Scaling for impact, therefore, requires listening to those who experience the challenges, translating research into practical tools, and building trust among all actors across the agri-food system.
The day’s discussions highlighted persistent regional challenges: limited communication infrastructure, gender inequalities, and the underrepresentation of rural women and youth. The need to improve coordination among research, extension, and production systems was emphasized as key to promoting a more integrated and participatory ecosystem.
Shared experiences demonstrated that more open and democratic knowledge models are possible. Initiatives such as farmer field schools with collaborative approaches, living labs connecting producers and scientists, and crop improvement programs rooted in local needs all reaffirmed that innovation gains meaning when it responds to real contexts and promotes inclusion.
The conclusion was clear: scaling for impact is not about multiplying technologies, but about weaving trust, strengthening social capital, and ensuring that solutions are relevant to those who adopt them. Only then can knowledge systems truly become engines of change in the face of climate change and food insecurity in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Day 2 Participants
Welcome and introduction:
- Juan Sebastián Rivas, Alliance Bioversity–CIAT (Facilitator)
Thematic presentations:
- Fernando Landini, CONICET
- Lisset Pérez-Marulanda, Alliance Bioversity–CIAT
Panel discussion:
Moderator:
- Miguel Sierra, INIA Uruguay
Panelists:
- José Causadías, Agricultural Innovation Institute of Panama (IDIAP)
- Marion Le Pommellec, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
- Katharina Schiller, CIMMYT
🎥 Watch the session: Scaling Week – Day 2
Day 3: Key Tools for Implementing Responsible Scaling Pathways
The final day of Scaling Week brought the conversation from concept to practice, exploring the tools and methodologies that make responsible scaling possible. Presentations and discussions converged on one point: the true value of these tools lies in their ability to turn theory into action: always keeping people at the center.
The relational approach was a highlight of the day. Scaling is not a linear technical process but a collective effort built on trust, social capital, and legitimacy. Innovations thrive when embedded in collaborative and learning networks that connect the local with the global and build lasting capacities.
Among the tools presented, the Scaling Scan stood out for its practicality in assessing the innovation context and co-designing inclusive strategies. Through ten key ingredients (from demand and business models to governance and capacities), it helps identify bottlenecks and co-develop participatory roadmaps.
Similarly, the Scaling Readiness methodology was recognized for its robust scientific framework that integrates evidence, diagnosis, and monitoring. It emphasizes that what scales are not isolated products but innovation packages involving technologies, policies, and institutions: with success depending on their maturity and adoption.
Panel discussions emphasized the need to understand root causes before scaling solutions, to avoid reinforcing inequalities or creating limited impacts. Experiences such as the Latin American Platform for Climate Action in Agriculture (PLACA) and Local Technical Agroclimatic Committees demonstrated the value of multi-stakeholder networks in sustaining long-term transformation processes.
Scaling Week concluded with a powerful message: responsible scaling requires both analytical rigor and genuine social processes. Only by combining technical tools with trust-building, inclusion, and participatory evidence can Latin America and the Caribbean transform their agri-food systems toward sustainability and equity.
Day 3 Participants
Welcome and introduction:
- Juan Sebastián Rivas, Alliance Bioversity–CIAT (Host)
Thematic presentation:
- Deissy Martínez-Barón, Alliance Bioversity–CIAT
Panel discussion:
Moderator:
- Ana Carolina Rodríguez, CIP
Panelists:
- Ediner Fuentes, SENACYT (Panama)
- Danilo Guerra, ASORECH (Guatemala)
- Gabriela Ixchíu, Association for Rural Development Cooperation in Western Guatemala (CDRO)
🎥 Watch the session: Scaling Week – Day 3
A Region Scaling with Purpose
Scaling Week in Latin America and the Caribbean left more than technical lessons, it strengthened a shared vision of how science can truly transform realities. Participants agreed that real impact happens when innovations are embedded within networks of trust, knowledge, and collaboration that transcend projects and borders.
From this perspective, scaling becomes an act of shared responsibility, between researchers and communities, between science and policy, between the region and the planet. Each experience, tool, and reflection shared throughout the week reaffirmed that responsible scaling is not about the speed of change, but its depth and sustainability.
Today, Latin America and the Caribbean have a more connected community, aware of its crucial role in this process. The creation of the Scaling Network for Latin America and the Caribbean (ALC) marks a decisive step toward ongoing dialogue, capacity strengthening, and collective action to build more equitable and climate-resilient agri-food systems.
The future of scaling in the region is no longer a promise: it is a practice in motion, driven by people, institutions, and territories that believe real impact begins when knowledge is shared, adapted, and multiplied over time.
👉 Join the Scaling Network for Latin America and the Caribbean