Scaling success: Lessons from adaptation pilots in the rainfed regions of India
This report (PDF) by the World Resources Institute (WRI) aims to accelerate scaling of adaptation in rainfed India by providing a framework to enable project implementers, funding agencies, and policy makers to identify good adaptation practice, determine what is ready to be scaled, and understand the process of scaling and the conditions necessary to support it. The four parts of the adaptation scaling framework include: 1) Good adaptation practice indicators; 2) Scaling readiness; 3) Scaling pathways; and 4) Conditions for scaling. The authors applied the framework to twenty-one adaptation projects and conducted four deep dive case studies to assess the scaling potential of adaptation projects in rainfed regions of India. The twenty-one projects showed mixed results with regard to the good practice indicators. Several projects address all these areas of good practice, while others address only on one or two. Of the indicators, knowledge sharing had the strongest showing (20 projects), while climate information service provision had the weakest (7 projects). The authors highlight that when determining if an adaptation intervention is ready for scaling, implementers face the challenge of identifying the right indicators of good adaptation practice to ensure effective adaptation activities are scaled. This is challenging for several reasons, such as adaptation activities in different contexts look very different from each other, which makes it difficult to determine what is “good”. The authors suggest more research is needed on what adaptation activities work, in order to help clarify what is “good” and fit for scaling. See also the executive summary.