Replication and Scaling Up: Where to from Here? - Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - page 436

Five , Strengthen the Training of Trainers (TOT). Improving the ability of trainers to
train others needs to be prioritized. TOT designs should ensure that trainers attain
not only knowledge of training content but also the requisite facilitation skills to
train others.
Six , Develop training resources for regional use. Programs in several countries
have identified the need to develop regional training resources. As part of this
effort, training materials should be translated into local languages if more than
one is spoken in the desertified areas and national training resources should be
developed and/or reinforced for regional purposes

Leveraging human resources is essential to reach scale in a given country. Local
government (e.g., districts) is the key focal point for training. Local government
is the appropriate level to focus training efforts for scaling up because the local
government structure is country-wide, increasingly responsible for rural develop-
ment initiatives, and typically has access to a cadre of educated professionals
(teachers, administrators, and other professionals) available for implementation.
Local governments provide a country-wide human resource base for scaling up.
Local government-level trainers use hands-on methods to teach.
National and/or regional training resources must be identified. Qualified training
partners are essential to ensure sustainability and quality of program implementation
within and between countries. When introducing the project in a new district or
region, qualified trainers with experience will improve the quality of replication. As
new countries attempt to replicate this program, training expertise in one country
can be utilized by consultants in another country there are still questions that need
to be addressed:

• Capacity building will play a large role in replication, but who will manage a

nationwide capacity building program?

How can training be institutionalized and made sustainable?
How can partners best contribute to rolling out and managing a new
program?
And what will be the role of national governments in implementation?
When national governments develop and/or refine trainers' skills, the
trainers become more marketable.
How can these trainers be retained to carry on the work of scaling up rural
sanitation?
What type of incentive schemes might be used to increase retention?
Are there opportunities to tie trainers' performances to incentives in other
jobs they might have, for example, as teachers?

Training of Trainers (TOT) should ensure that trainers have both relevant
technical knowledge and the skills to train others. Content specific knowledge
can be ensured through establishing criteria for trainer selection that include field
experience. For example, a district-level facilitator should be trained to train others
only after they have experience in the field implementing the activities they will train