Replication and Scaling Up: Where to from Here? - Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - page 435

3 Key Findings from Field Work in Africa,

Asia and the Middle East

It is critical to adapt to the local context. The very fact that successful pilots have
not automatically scaled up shows that, whatever their merits, they may require
adaptation to succeed in different contexts. What appears to be best practice in one
setting may be poor practice in another. While it is useful to draw lessons from
successful experiments within a country and from global experience, project design
must be adapted to the local context.

• Programs to combat desertification and arrest and reverse land degradation (at

any meaningful scale) require the use of host country human resources for
training and implementation.

• A cascading training model (e.g., national- or regional-level trainers train local

governments and local government-level trainers train communities) is effective
for implementation of land rehabilitation projects at scale.

• Trainers must have both technical, subject matter expertise and training skills.

• High-quality, standardized training materials and methodologies—i.e., max-

imum use of experiential learning cycle, easily translatable language, and
inclusion of a facilitator guide, a participant manual, and visual aids—enable
quality replication of projects at scale.

• Development of national or regional training resources facilitates replication in

other regions, districts, and countries.

• Monitoring training outcomes ensures quality programs.

Two key lessons have emerged. First, training skills are essential at all levels
(national, regional, and local) to implement an at-scale land rehabilitation program;
and second, a training program must focus at the local government level for
implementation.
Six areas that usually need further improvement:

First , the lack of a formalized, strategic approach to training, one that follows
established standards, has led to inconsistent quality in training results.
Second , training materials developed during implementation need updates and
revisions that include new learning and apply more rigor to methodologies and
documentation.
Third , training skills have received less attention than subject matter content.
Though trainers need knowledge of the subject matter, they also need the skills
to facilitate groups and manage training sessions and timetables etc.
Fourth , initial project successes have led other countries to express interest in repli-
cation. This replication requires sharing of materials and expertise, a challenge
that often requires localization of training materials—for example, translation
into local languages or use of culturally relevant examples—and support visits
by qualified trainers. Both of these require resources and so this aspect has not
yet been fully developed.