The role of spaces


A number of important spaces for scaling up were created by government, the municipalities, communities, and IFAD:


• Political space: As government desired a bottom-up approach, it allowed for a community-driven rural development process to be expanded systematically and consistently with the farming communities. This was possible in part because of the external drivers and was in part a result of the networking efforts involving many stakeholders in government, academia, think tanks, NGOs, and international partners.


• Policy and institutional space: Over time the necessary policy and institutional space was created by establishing the legal foundations for the decentralized and community- driven approach in the form of nucleos ejecutores centrales, legally recognized entities able to sign contracts, intervene in administrative and judicial procedures, and carry out all other functions required to implement publicly funded projects. For example, they could act as project management units (PMUs). The integration of the PMUs into ministerial structures, continuity in PMU staffing and leadership, and the creation of an overarching institutional umbrella for all related rural development efforts (AGRORURAL) supported this space.


• Fiscal space: No major fiscal constraints were encountered in replication and scaling up, mostly because unit costs were kept low by design and turned out even lower in implementation.


• Cultural space: One of the key ingredients of success was the cultural compatibility of the rural development model with the norms of the Southern Highland population. Differentiated power structures in this nonhomogenous community setting were countered by using LRACs, in which the interest of the more vulnerable, poor population was respected by the more powerful, “tolerant” part of the community.


• Learning space: Implementation and supervision arrangements created a learning space by enhancing a “learning by doing” culture, flexibility, and openness to change. The learning space was built by (i) strengthening capacity for mutual learning; (ii) providing earmarked resources and opportunities for local actors to experiment with, implement, and validate technical solutions; (iii) cooperating with a learning network of engaged experts; and (iv) preparing and disseminating documentation of learning processes and products.


Approach to monitoring and evaluation of the scaling-up process


Poverty in Peru diminished from 54.8 percent in 2001 to 31.3 percent in 2010. The Southern Highlands projects have contributed to this reduction. Their initial impact indicator (increased incomes) was scaled up into a full suite of indicators:


increase in business sales, permanent active savers, increase of value of physical assets, reduction of chronic malnutrition, and increase in gender equity. Demonstrating clear results and impact has become essential


to justifying public investments in Peru. Nevertheless, the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems of both the government and IFAD remain weak on demonstrating rigorous impact data. M&E of scaling-up processes is weakly developed, although promising results of the process in the Southern Highlands are extensively documented for such areas as increased efficiencies in mobilizing and leveraging financial resources from the government and from the beneficiaries themselves.


Issues and challenges


Notwithstanding successes in mobilizing municipal funding for the LRAC initiatives, municipal fiscal space is still constrained by legal regulations. Funds for recurrent costs expenditures cannot be used for productive investments. Currently, a network of municipalities is exploring how to overcome these constraints by developing alternative income streams, for example, from mining royalties. Staffing levels, attitudes, and capacities of local governments


are often not appropriate to handle the complex innovations, which may alter the status quo and power relations. Cultural values and Southern Highlands campesino philosophy


may not necessarily be taken as given in other rural areas of Peru. Scaling up is hence not a mechanical process that can be taken for granted. Acknowledging local differences may require modifications to the innovations.


Drawing lessons


Allowing space for organic learning processes that put farmers and their communities at the center of development has proven key to scaling up innovations for poverty reduction in Peru. Providing incentives for local staff, securing their permanence in national institutions, and coupling them to cultural sensitivity represents another important driver. Innovations cannot be introduced from outside—they must


grow from within, through interaction and evidence-based learning by an enthusiastic team equipped with network connections and tools such as loans and grants. Citizenship building, social inclusion, and accountable governance are issues relevant to all countries, particularly middle-income countries. Finally, lessons learned from the drivers and spaces may contribute to dynamic knowledge management systems and thus to further scaling up of rural poverty reduction processes.


For further reading: W. H. M. van Immerzeel, Poverty, How to Accelerate Change: Experience, Results and Focus of an Innovative Methodology from Latin America, www.dexcel.org/pdf/Capacity- Development.pdf; International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), “Experiencias Innovadoras en los Proyectos del FIDA en la República del Perú, Evaluación Temática.” Rome: 2004.


Barbara Massler (b.massler@ageg.de) is a senior development consultant and head of the supervisory board of AGEG Consultants, eG. She is based in Italy. www.ifpri.org


Copyright © 2012 International Food Policy Research Institute. All rights reserved. Contact ifpri-copyright@cgiar.org for permission to republish.


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