GS1247 VPA 37 Improved Kitchen Regimes - Dowa Boreholes, Malawi

Audit Analysis

This Gold Standard borehole project in Malawi has a VVB-verified additionality assessment and no reported reversal events, but is undermined by an extraordinary volume of material findings, multiple borehole failures, water quality issues, parameter caps imposed through a grievance review, and significant contradictions across documents on leakage, fNRB, and ERR figures. The project-specific baseline, 0% leakage deduction (contradicting the PDD's 5%), and the absence of CORSIA/CCP clarity leave meaningful over-crediting and greenwashing risk. Documentation is extensive in volume (47 documents) but poor in quality, with dozens of open corrective actions, registry errors, and formatting inconsistencies.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Dozens of material findings and corrective actions remain open or were raised during verification, including non-functional boreholes, water quality test failures, and parameter caps imposed via a GS grievance review
• ⚠Leakage deduction of 0% (deemed negligible) in the 2026 verification contradicts a 5% deduction in the 2023 PDD, with no clear reconciliation
• ⚠fNRB value of 0.94 (local field, 2026) contradicts 0.81 (national default, 2019 monitoring report), and the method itself shifted between documents
• ⚠25 boreholes in Kasungu district retired from the project due to SHA exit plan; multiple additional boreholes non-functional or running dry during 2025
• ⚠Registry reflects incorrect methodology (TPDDTEC v1) and SDGs for some VPAs; correction request still pending

Credit Vintages