Scaling up projects requires smart, effective, long-lasting solutions that have broad stakeholder engagement and buy-in. To help meet this challenge, FHI 360, in partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), developed a methodology to accelerate engagement and sustain collaborative action. Called the System-wide Collaborative Action for Livelihoods and Environment (SCALE+) methodology, the tool has been used successfully by FHI 360 since 2004 in development projects across 15 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

FHI 360’s trained facilitators use SCALE+ with governments, civil society partners, the private sector and the media to engage marginalized groups. SCALE+ is a way to facilitate systems-thinking, to describe and develop an understanding of the underlying structure of a system, to build programs that work best in the system, and to most effectively affect change. FHI 360 also provides technical support, working with stakeholders to fill needs identified through the process (such as capacity building or education) and leading participatory monitoring. FHI 360 has applied this methodology to sectors including agriculture, health, tourism, education, fisheries and economic development.

Currently, FHI 360 and USAID have adapted and used the SCALE+ methodology with global initiatives such as Feed the Future. In the Feed the Future Catalyzing Partnerships for Scale project, the methodology supports programs by:

• Expanding the geographic coverage and the number of people reached by existing activities and mechanisms
•  Engaging with national and local organizations
•  Disseminating gender-appropriate, nutrition-enhancing, resilience-enhancing and climate-smart technologies to sustainably improve agricultural productivity and household nutrition
• Coordinating a “whole of society” response with programs in areas such as economic growth, democracy and governance, education, health and humanitarian assistance 

Other FHI 360 projects have used the SCALE+ methodology to promote sustainable fisheries and aquaculture practices in Ecuador, Honduras, Mozambique and Nicaragua, and to encourage U.S. farmers to modify their tractors to prevent injury in the event of tractor rollover. SCALE+ was applied in Kenya through the Agricultural Partnerships for Productivity and Prosperity (AP³) project to engage 112,000 farmers to improve feeding systems. It measurably strengthened the relationships between people and communities, increased the power of research institutions and established a local seed dealer association.

To learn more about operationalizing SCALE+, view the SCALE+ site or the Feed the Future project.

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Photo credit: Jessica Scranton/FHI 360