Social capital and scaling in climate-oriented Agricultural Research for Development

Over 15 years of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) practice have generated substantial investment in Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D), yet translating research outputs into sustained impact at scale remains one of the field's most persistent challenges. Social capital, understood as the trust, relational closeness, and social support among actors, has been identified as a key enabler of scaling processes, yet its treatment within climate-oriented AR4D has received limited systematic attention. This study addresses that gap by examining how scaling and social capital are reflected in the documented outcomes of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS). Conceptual basis Scaling is conceptualized through three interacting pathways: scaling out (reaching more people and places), scaling up (influencing institutions and policies), and scaling deep (transforming relational norms and practices), following Moore et al. (2015). Social capital is underst