VPA 174 EcoZoom Improved Stove Programme, Uganda

Audit Analysis

The EcoZoom improved cookstove programme in Uganda has a verified additionality test and no reversal events, but is undermined by 13 cross-document contradictions, a 0% leakage deduction (reduced from 5% in the PDD), a verified usage rate 24% below the assumed rate, and a stove lifetime revision from 5 to 7 years that inflates claimed reductions. The extensive list of corrective actions and material findings signals ongoing quality-control issues that erode confidence in the credit's integrity.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Verified usage rate (0.6836) is 24% below the assumed rate (0.90), indicating the project is under-delivering relative to its design assumptions
• ⚠Stove lifetime was revised upward from 5 to 7 years mid-crediting-period, increasing claimed reductions without a full re-baselining
• ⚠Leakage deduction reduced from 5% (PDD, 2023) to 0% (verification report, 2026) with justification shifting from 'deemed negligible' to 'quantified'—inconsistent treatment
• ⚠13 contradictions across documents, including conflicting fNRB methods (national default vs. local field), conflicting additionality test types (combined vs. investment), and conflicting FPIC status

Credit Vintages