Episode Details

What’s the state of air quality in Ghana?

Over the last century, environmental pollution and air quality have been worsening in Africa. An estimated 28,000 deaths in Ghana and 780,000 deaths across the continent each year are associated with poor air quality. The World Health Organization found air pollution in 2020 to be the second highest risk factor for premature death in Ghana. Vehicle emissions, industrial waste, slash-and-burn farming methods, industrial pollution, and biomass burning are the leading contributors to air pollution in the region. 

The role of air quality monitoring in public awareness

Limited air quality monitoring has also exacerbated the problem, as much of air pollution research in Africa is based on modeled data and estimates rather than data collected on-site. One reason for this is the high initial, maintenance, and operating costs of reference-grade air quality monitors. Poor communication of air quality levels also intensifies this situation by leading to a lack of public understanding of the existence, extent, and damages of air pollution. Limited expertise, lack of political will, and economic resistance to change polluting behaviors have also contributed to the current situation. 

Why low-cost environmental sensors?

One solution to improve air quality monitoring in the region is the emergence and utility of low-cost environmental sensing tools. Today over 30 Purpleair PA-II sensors are deployed throughout Africa, and data from these sensors can be accessed through PurpleAir map or OpenAQ platform. PurpleAir specializes in low-cost air quality monitoring sensors that connect to Wifi to map and share the data on an app. Clean Air One Atmosphere has also helped increase public awareness of air quality by making this data available through the Yakokoe app. However, limited expertise in testing and deploying sensors, analyzing data, and interpreting the results still remains a challenge. A lack of robust infrastructure, reliable internet access, and staff to manage the data are also obstacles. Inequality within access to the data is also a problem, as many of the monitoring stations are located near the capital and urban areas. 

Benefits of increasing public awareness of poor air quality

Increased awareness of the importance of air quality monitoring in Ghana has improved in recent years. In 2021, a collaboration between the World Bank’s Pollution Management and Environmental Health Program, the Environmental Protection Agency of Ghana, and the United States installed three new state-of-the-art air quality monitoring systems. These systems were installed at t