Toward a Common Ontology of Scaling Up in Development

April N. Frake and Joseph P. Messina
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April N. Frake: Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, Geography Building, 673 Auditorium Road, Room 116, East Lansing, MI 28824, USA
Joseph P. Messina: Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, Geography Building, 673 Auditorium Road, Room 116, East Lansing, MI 28824, USA

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 3, 1-11

Abstract: Scaling up development measures to target global food insecurity has a distinctly spatial character and is often cited as a solution to the global hunger crisis. Development does not occur without scaling and consensus on the ontological meaning of scaling up is a vital component to developing sustainable solutions to the global hunger crisis across geographical scales. Yet ‘scaling up’, while frequently used throughout Research and Development (R&D) and Natural Resource Management (NRM) literature, lacks ontological agreement. We begin by considering the noun, ‘scale’ and existing literature on scaling up, then present a visual analysis of definitions provided for scaling up across development institutions. Our study finds that the organization of terms used across these definitions falls into three distinct categories: Interventions, Mechanisms, and Outcomes. Further, we contend that the continued uncertainty is linked to scale being applied in two fashions: as a noun (outcome) and verb (process). Rather than calling for reformed definitions, we argue for precision of definitions. To that end, we present a conceptual framework of scaling up that gives greater emphasis on separating the noun scale, from the verb, to scale. Further, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) in our model complements scaling efforts beginning with how scaling up is defined by program, through to final evaluation of success.

Keywords: scale; development; innovation; assessment; agriculture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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