CASE STUDY: AN INCUBATOR APPROACH TO SCALING EFFECTIVE RESILIENCE SOLUTIONS

The document assesses the GRP Incubator's approach to scaling resilience solutions, focusing on five grantees: Groundswell, IFPRI, Mahila Housing Trust, MetaMeta, and Producers Direct. It details the Incubator's support mechanisms, including mentoring, leadership training, and financial networking, and evaluates the progress of these grantees across a three-stage scaling framework. Key findings highlight the importance of context-specific adaptation, stakeholder engagement, and the transition from grant-funded projects to sustainable business models.

• The GRP Incubator defines scaling through four distinct pathways: expanding geographically (growing activities in a region), widening horizontally (adding related functionality), replicating geographically (copying/adapting to another region), and diving vertically (expanding scope and depth).
• The Incubator uses a four-step assessment process to identify projects for scaling, which includes evaluating the project against seven principles of resilience, assessing scalability (user appropriateness, sustainability, and scalability), conducting capacity gap analysis, and implementing a jointly agreed action plan.
• Scaling grantees achieved significant reach and policy influence: MetaMeta supported over 4 million beneficiaries and influenced World Bank guidelines; Mahila supported 135,539 people and trained 102 women entrepreneurs; Groundswell supported 60,021 people across Mali, Senegal, and Burkina Faso; IFPRI's financing solution benefited 10,180 people; and Producers Direct reached 66,500 smallholder households via digital tools.
• A critical challenge in scaling is the tension between financial sustainability and reaching the most vulnerable; reliance on user payments for profitability often leads to a divergence from serving the poorest populations, who typically require grant funding.
• The Incubator provided high-value support through the Leadership Academy and the Investing in Resilience Forum, helping grantees transition from a project-delivery mindset to a scaling mindset by refining pitch decks and fundraising proposals.
• Effective scaling requires a 'learning-by-doing' approach and a high tolerance for failure, as there are no established universal mechanisms for scaling resilience initiatives.
• Stakeholder engagement is a primary driver of scaling success, but grantees encountered significant institutional, political, and cultural barriers, including a lack of institutional capacity and differing social norms.
• Administrative delays in grant management and decision-making created opportunity costs for grantees, specifically hindering their ability to implement activities in-season or conduct timely training.

APA

Stott, C., & Robens, S. (2020). CASE STUDY: AN INCUBATOR APPROACH TO SCALING EFFECTIVE RESILIENCE SOLUTIONS. Global Resilience Partnership. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/case-study_-an-incubator-approach-to-scaling-effective-resilience-solutions.pdf

Chicago

Stott, Clare, and Sarah Robens. CASE STUDY: AN INCUBATOR APPROACH TO SCALING EFFECTIVE RESILIENCE SOLUTIONS. Global Resilience Partnership, 2020. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/case-study_-an-incubator-approach-to-scaling-effective-resilience-solutions.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Stott |first1=Clare |last2=Robens |first2=Sarah |title=CASE STUDY: AN INCUBATOR APPROACH TO SCALING EFFECTIVE RESILIENCE SOLUTIONS |publisher=Global Resilience Partnership |date=March 2020 |url=https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/case-study_-an-incubator-approach-to-scaling-effective-resilience-solutions.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stott2020case, author = {Stott, Clare and Robens, Sarah}, title = {{CASE STUDY: AN INCUBATOR APPROACH TO SCALING EFFECTIVE RESILIENCE SOLUTIONS}}, institution = {Global Resilience Partnership}, year = {2020}, month = mar, url = {https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/case-study_-an-incubator-approach-to-scaling-effective-resilience-solutions.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }