GS1340 Efficient cookstoves in Burkina Faso - VPA-17 - Improved Cookstove F3PA project in Nahouri

Audit Analysis

This Gold Standard cookstove project in Burkina Faso has a verified additionality test and a quantified 5% leakage deduction, but the verification report identified over 30 material findings including formula errors, data inconsistencies, and missing documentation. FPIC was not conducted per the verification report (contradicting the PDD), no buffer pool or permanence mechanism is documented, and nine cross-document contradictions undermine data reliability. The project's social impact is meaningful, but the data quality and safeguard gaps significantly weaken its credit integrity.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠The verification report (June 2024) lists over 30 material findings including a formula error in ER calculations, discrepancies in stove counts (34,989 stoves vs 14,825 households), inconsistent SDG values, and missing sampling design documentation, yet the corrective actions field is empty
• ⚠FPIC was not conducted according to the verification report (2023), directly contradicting the PDD (2022) which states it was conducted — a critical safeguard gap for a community-level cookstove project in Burkina Faso
• ⚠No buffer pool, permanence mechanism, or reversal risk mitigation is documented in any available record
• ⚠Nine contradictions exist across documents, including a 3.4× discrepancy in verified ERR figures (49,827 vs 169,085) between two verification reports, and conflicting FNRB methods (national default vs local field)
• ⚠The usage survey for the 2022 monitoring period was conducted in May 2023, raising questions about data timeliness and representativeness

Credit Vintages