Vita Ireland

21/07/2026

Seeing is believing. 🌱

When farmers see what's possible, confidence grows.

For Kaleb Chika, a farmer and leader of a newly formed Seed Multiplication Cooperative in Ethiopia, potato seed multiplication once seemed beyond the reach of smallholder farmers.

Everything changed after joining a Vita-supported farmer exposure visit where he met experienced small holder potato seed producers and witnessed successful cooperative businesses in action.

"I used to think improved seed production was too difficult for small farmers like me. But after seeing farmers like us doing it successfully, I understood we can also do this." – Kaleb Chika

The visit It strengthened his confidence to:

✅ Improve the management of his own seed multiplication plot.

✅ Mobilise his cooperative to develop a communal storage facility.

✅ Share new knowledge with neighbouring farmers, multiplying the impact beyond the cooperative.

With support from Irish Aid, Farmer-to-farmer learning visits are building confidence, accelerates the adoption of improved practices, strengthens cooperatives and inspires investment in sustainable livelihoods.

13/07/2026

A very big thank you to the South Ethiopia Regional government and the communities we partner with for making our work possible.

24/06/2026

Vita Impact through the Vita Green Impact Fund is advancing a practical model where climate action meets real economic transformation.

By using a blended finance structure, the fund is accelerating the adoption of improved cookstoves that significantly reduce wood consumption and lower emissions at household level. The impact is measurable: reduced deforestation pressure, cleaner cooking environments and carbon savings.

Emissions reductions are rigorously recorded, verified, quantified and then issued as carbon credits on the voluntary carbon market. This creates a revenue stream that sustains and scales impact.

The benefits go far beyond carbon. Cleaner cooking directly improves health outcomes and reduces the burden of fuel collection—work that disproportionately affects women. At the same time, local production and sales of improved cookstoves are creating income opportunities and strengthening women-led livelihoods within communities.

30/05/2026

Today, as we celebrate World Potato Day, we recognise a powerful, climate-smart food that sits at the heart of resilient food systems.
The potato continues to prove itself as a strategic “super food”: nutrient-dense, highly adaptable and capable of producing more food per unit of land compared to many staples. Its multiple growing cycles within a year make it a practical solution for bridging hunger gaps—especially the critical lean months between harvests when many rural families we work with in Ethiopia and Eritrea face food shortages.
At Vita Impact, we are proud to stand at the center of this transformation. As a founding member of Irish Potato Research and Development Association (IPRaDA), we continue to support coordinated efforts that strengthen the potato value chain in Ethiopia.
IPRADA plays an important role in bringing together key actors across research, seed systems, production and market linkages to accelerate innovation, improve seed quality and ensure farmers can access better yields and stronger markets.
Vita Impact remains committed to advancing climate-resilient food systems across Ethiopia and Eritrea.

30/03/2026

We were honoured to meet with His Excellency Lalisa Berhanu at the Embassy of Ethiopia, London for a focused and forward-looking discussion on strengthening rural development and climate action across Ethiopia.
Our conversation centred on practical collaboration — how we can build on our long-standing work with rural communities to scale solutions that are locally led, economically viable and climate resilient.
A key priority discussed was expanding our carbon credit initiatives to accelerate clean energy adoption and reduce pressure on forests. Discussions also touched on opportunities for collaboration in the lead-up to COP 2027, which Ethiopia will host and the potential to showcase scalable initiatives that demonstrate how government and international partners can work together to deliver real impact.
Vita remains committed to working alongside national and local partners to expand programmes that deliver measurable, lasting impact for rural communities across Ethiopia.

𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘆 𝗛𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗩𝗶𝘁𝗮 𝗨𝗞 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀

The Ethiopian Embassy in London hosted a constructive meeting between His Excellency Ambassador Lalisa Berhanu and representatives of Vita UK, including Chairman Andy Flatt and Business Development Advisor Jamie Goode.

Discussions highlighted Vita as an international development organization working with rural communities to build sustainable livelihoods, strengthen climate resilience, and promote locally driven economic opportunities. The conversation focused on enhancing collaboration to support community-driven development across Ethiopia.

Vita’s long-standing engagement in rural Ethiopia, particularly through climate-smart agriculture, clean water systems, and the distribution of fuel-efficient stoves, was recognized as an important contribution to improving livelihoods while protecting the environment.

Both sides also discussed scaling up Vita’s presence in Ethiopia and expanding its carbon credit initiatives, which help reduce deforestation and support clean energy solutions for rural communities.

A shared commitment was made to work closely together to deepen cooperation and scale up impactful programmes across Ethiopia.

Biruk Mekonnen Office of the Prime Minister-Ethiopia The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia MFAEthiopia Amharic የውጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስቴር Lalisa Berhanu British Embassy, Addis Ababa - UK in Ethiopia

08/03/2026

From our Learning and Development Officer, Emily Hosford and all the women at Vita Impact, we’re proud to wish our community, staff and partners a very Happy International Women’s Day.

In this video, Emily shares her reflections on the 2026 International Women’s Day theme, ““Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls,” and what it means to champion equity, amplify women’s voices and create spaces where everyone can thrive.

06/02/2026

Meet Ribe Asrat — a small dairy farmer whose daily work does far more than put food on the table.

Through the sale of her milk and dairy products, Ribe supports her family, builds resilience and shows what’s possible when women farmers have the opportunity to thrive.

Her story is one of determination, hard work and the quiet impact happening in rural communities every day.

Watch her journey and see how small-scale farming creates big change. 🎥👇

https://youtu.be/9jmrqpllUQM

Thanks to our partners Bank of Ireland for supporting this programme.

28/01/2026

When a waterpoint breaks, it’s women who feel it first and longest.

So why are they so often excluded from fixing it?

At Vita Impact, we believe sustainable access to water only works when the people who rely on them most have the skills and authority to maintain them. That’s why our water programme in Eritrea and Ethiopia is deliberately designed to put women at the centre of waterpoint repair and maintenance.

We ensure at least 45% of every WASH committee is made up of women. We go further by providing hands-on technical training so women can carry out repairs themselves -quickly, confidently and without waiting for external technicians.

This approach is changing how water systems function on the ground:

Repairs happen faster
Downtime is reduced
Communities rely less on costly outside expertise
Waterpoints stay functional for longer

Through this smarter system, we invest in local capacity, gender equity and long-term resilience.

09/01/2026

Building skills. Strengthening leadership. Securing safe water—locally.
Dasash Alamrew, from Babiko Kebele in Libokemkem Woreda, recently took part in a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Committee training where local community members learned how to carry out practical repairs on shared water points. The focus was to equip communities with real, usable skills so they can keep their water systems functioning long after projects end.
“Every day, I am building confidence in my ability to conduct minor repairs at our water point,” Dasash shared. “I am happy that I can now monitor the water point that my family and I drink from.”
This training is part of Vita Impact’s community water point repair programme, which prioritises the transfer of technical skills to local people as a core sustainability measure. Instead of relying on external support, communities are empowered to manage, repair and protect their own water sources.
Gender equality is central to this approach. Vita’s model ensures that at least 40–55% of all WASH Committee members are women—strengthening women’s leadership and increasing their participation in water management.

Male WASH Committee members are seeing the difference too. One participant noted that men are increasingly sharing responsibility for water collection, treatment and management—recognising that safe drinking water is not “women’s work,” but a shared duty.

This is how sustainable change happens: local skills, inclusive leadership, and communities fully in charge of their water future.

03/12/2025

We are pleased to announce we have been names as winner of the Clifford Chance SDG Award 2025.

The award recognises the circularity and innovation in our implementation model. Our work improves access to clean water, accelerates adoption of fuel-efficient cooking, supports community-led forest restoration and promotes climate-smart agriculture in East Africa.

Together, these programmes help to advance climate resilience, deliver climate justice and improve livelihoods bringing substantial health, gender equality and social benefits.

This year, the award focused on SDG 11 (Sustainable Communities), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and SDG 15 (Life on Land).

Being selected as the winner reinforces that Vita’s locally-led, evidence-driven model is not only working — it’s setting a benchmark for sustainable impact.

We’re proud of this recognition, but even more proud of the communities who make this progress real.

Read more about the SDG Award 2025 here
https://www.cliffordchance.com/news/news/2025/11/clifford-chance-chooses-vita-impact-as-the-winner-of-its-50000-dollars-sustainable-development-goals-award-2025.html
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