Vita Green Impact Programme
The investment will enable the Vita Green Impact Programme to provide 2 million fuel-efficient cook stoves, repair 7,750 community water points, save 40 million trees, and plant 10 million trees. This will result in significant social and environmental benefits, including improved access to basic services, reduced incidence of water-borne illnesses, and substantial carbon emission savings.
Loan purpose: International investment
Project: Vita Green Impact Programme Designated Activity Company (Vita Green) is expanding a successful Pilot Fund initiated in 2016, which provided safe water and clean cook stoves to 311,000 people, generating over two million tons of carbon emission savings. The current fund aims to benefit over eight million people, deliver sustainable energy and clean water solutions, and support climate change mitigation by generating annual carbon emission savings of four million tons.
Borrower: The fund, implemented by Vita Smart Climate Solutions (Vita) and managed by Finance Carbon Impact Ltd, aims to scale up access to safe water, clean cook stoves, and forestry for rural communities in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Vita Smart is an Irish development partner founded in 1989 that focuses on community-led development with an emphasis on gender equality, climate justice, and social impact. Vita Smart has extensive experience in sustainable agriculture, water access, and clean cooking, and operates in the Horn of Africa.
Loan Details: Partners provided a $250,000 loan in the senior tranche notes of Vita Green. The loan will fund projects focused on safe water, clean energy (cook stoves), environment (tree savings and planting), and gender equity. This loan supports reducing reliance on fuelwood for cooking, heating, and water boiling, major contributors to CO2 emissions and deforestation.