GS1247 VPA 261 Improved Kitchen Regimes Multi-Country PoA - Dowa Boreholes, Malawi

Audit Analysis

A Gold Standard borehole water-supply project in Malawi with VVB-confirmed additionality and no reversal events, but undermined by a project-specific baseline, a 0% leakage deduction that contradicts the original PDD's 5% figure, numerous data-quality corrective actions, and a low extraction confidence rating. The verified ERR (68,144) sits at roughly 97% of the claimed figure for the monitoring period, suggesting modest under-delivery rather than over-crediting, yet the absence of CORSIA/CCP status and the volume of open forward-action requests leave material uncertainty about long-term claim integrity.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Leakage deduction dropped from 5% in the PDD (2023) to 0% in the 2025 verification report with only a 'deemed negligible' justification — a material change that weakens the environmental integrity of the claim.
• ⚠SDG 5 impact is negative: the monitoring report records a 38.9% increase in time spent collecting water and fuel compared to baseline, indicating the project may be worsening a key social outcome for beneficiaries.
• ⚠Twelve cross-document contradictions were identified, including a 44% gap in claimed ERR between the validation report (48,807) and the verification report (70,000), raising questions about which figure is authoritative.
• ⚠Min extraction confidence is rated low, meaning at least one key document was poorly readable, reducing reliability of the extracted data.
• ⚠Five forward-action requests (FARs) from the Gold Standard review remain open, including evaluation of SDG indicators at VPA level and submission of an fNRB report, indicating unresolved compliance items.

Credit Vintages