The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), a global partnership committed to a food-secure future, has launched the Regional East and Southern African Scaling Hub in Kenya. This new hub marks a significant step in strengthening agricultural innovation, fostering collaboration, and ensuring that science-based solutions developed by CGIAR and its research partners reach and benefit farmers across Africa.
At the heart of this initiative is the drive to push the science frontier and bring agricultural innovations to the “last mile”—where solutions must be affordable, scalable, and accessible to those who need them most. Inga Jacobs-Mata, one of the visionaries behind the hub, emphasized its transformative potential:
“This hub provides a physical space for CGIAR and our scaling partners to co-locate and collaboratively develop the most effective scientific solutions for Africa by Africa. Our goal is to find faster, more inclusive, and sustainable ways to take agricultural innovations to scale. The hub will be a center for dynamic interactions, creative problem-solving, and synergistic thinking.”
With a strong focus on collaboration, the hub will connect key players in agricultural development, including farmers, cooperatives, government bodies, financial institutions, universities, research institutions, civil society organizations, and private-sector actors. By fostering knowledge exchange and joint problem-solving, CGIAR aims to create an environment where agricultural innovations can be deployed more effectively.
A Pillar of CGIAR’s Global Strategy
The new hub is a critical component of CGIAR’s 2025-2030 Global Science Portfolio, which seeks to provide long-lasting solutions for food, land, and water transformation. It aligns with CGIAR’s Scaling for Impact Program, a bold initiative designed to reach over 62 million people by 2030—ensuring 30% of them are women, youth, and marginalized groups. The program also aims to create or enhance 250,000 jobs and improve access to healthier diets for 480,000 people, with women making up half of the beneficiaries.
By providing a dedicated space for scaling experts, researchers, and innovators, the hub will play a vital role in turning CGIAR’s ambitious goals into reality.
Bringing Innovation to Scale
Speaking at the launch, Appolinaire Djikeng, Director General of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), underscored the importance of ensuring CGIAR’s solutions are practical and scalable for smallholder farmers:
“For CGIAR, it is imperative that we ensure our solutions for small-scale farmers are effective and adaptable. This new scaling hub will help bridge the gap between innovation and impact by bringing together partners in a co-design process that ensures agricultural advancements can be widely deployed.”
By fostering deeper collaboration and knowledge sharing, the Regional East and Southern African Scaling Hub will serve as a catalyst for transforming African agriculture, ensuring that cutting-edge research translates into real-world benefits for farmers and communities across the continent.
