How Clean Air One Atmosphere (CAOA) Is Using Field Studies to Fight For Clean Air in West Africa

An OpenAQ Community Impact Story by Matt Lane

Air pollution has devastating health impacts in Africa leading to respiratory infections, heart disease, asthma, neonatal disorders, and stroke. In fact, poor air quality in Africa causes a staggering number of deaths at more than 1 million annual mortalities. [1] I recently talked to Dr. Collins Gameli Hodoli, Victor Dzidefo Ablo, and Lily Ama Appiagyei (figure 1) from Clean Air One Atmosphere (CAOA) to learn how they are addressing this deadly killer. CAOA’s approach is to build momentum towards new government air quality policies using open data and local, evidence-based studies.

Figure 1: The team from Clean Air One Atmosphere (CAOA).

History has shown that governmental air quality policies and regulations are extremely impactful. As an example, in the 50 years after the 1970 United States Clean Air Act, emissions have dropped by 78 percent. [2] Further, the European Union’s 2024 Ambient Air Quality Directive (AAQD) will reduce the 300,000 annual air pollution premature deaths by more than 75% in 10 years. [3]

Unfortunately, many African nations lack air quality monitoring and have weak or non-existent regulations. A recent OpenAQ report highlights that 67% of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa do not monitor air quality whatsoever. The team describes that this inaction is largely driven by air pollution being an “invisible killer.” Citizens breathe in unseen particles and suffer severe illnesses later in life. Lily cites one such example of an experienced and influential community member she knows from the local market who cooks with harmful solid fuels (i.e., charcoal or wood versus electricity or natural gas). This cook is not too worried because she hasn’t personally experienced any health issues to date. Without a strong public outcry, African lawmakers often focus on other priorities, ignoring air pollution. “A lack of data to combat these incorrect perceptions is a significant issue we face,” Victor explains.

CAOA’s approach to break this cycle is to use evidence-based field studies and open data to help community members and their legislators comprehend the health risks right in their own neighborhoods and schools. “When you conduct a study yourself locally, people are much more likely to believe and understand the findings,” highlights Lily.

One such example was CAOA’s work at Accra High School in the summer of 2023. They deployed a low-cost PM2.5 sensor at the school’s charcoal- and wood-fueled cooking station. They found pollution was 7 times higher (~140 µg/m3) than World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality Guidelines4. CAOA then worked collaboratively with and presented the findings to the area’s member of parliament, Dr. Zanetor Agymang-Rawlings. In early 2024, Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings commissioned retrofitted cookstoves for the kitchens of Accra High School and she has spearheaded the Clean Cookstove Project (see figure 2 below).

Figure 2: Harmful solid-fuel cooking stations (left) are replaced with smokeless designs (right) as part of the Clean Cookstove Project in Accra, Ghana.

In another example, CAOA conducted an air quality study in the second half of 2024 at West Africa Senior High School (WASHS) in Madina, Ghana, in hopes of strengthening the case for increased air pollution management. CAOA reported that PM2.5 pollution levels exceeded the WHO Air Quality Guidelines for 70% of the days over the study period due to vehicular emissions, open waste burning, wind-blown dust, and solid fuel use for cooking and heating. They also unpacked the differences by time period, driven by varying seasonal wind patterns and human activities (see figure 3 below).

Figure 3: CAOA’s monitoring at West Africa Senior High School highlights elevated levels of pollution during working hours (left), in November/December (middle), and on Saturday (right).

The team presented the findings to Madina’s parliamentary member, Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu, who was appreciative, posting, “The findings show that air pollution in my constituency poses a significant threat to health — residents, business owners, and, more specifically, vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant women, and individuals with respiratory conditions such as asthma. My office is committed to working closely with the Ghana Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to implement the recommendations in this report and develop a roadmap for healthier air in Madina.” (see figure 4 below)

Figure 4: A monitor at West Africa Senior High School in Medina, Ghana (left) and the team presents the findings to Madina’s parliamentary member, Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu (right).

Additionally, as the team has gained first-hand experience conducting air quality field studies, they have learned the hard way about the criticality of open data. “We have found the data strategy is very important. In one case, we had sensors stolen, and in another, the sensor data platform didn’t allow us to access historical data,” explains Dr. Hodoli. As a result, CAOA has become a huge proponent of using sensors that upload to OpenAQ. Victor outlines that, “We value OpenAQ’s consistent, easy-to-use interface and the ability to freely access our and other third-party sensor data. This leads to higher-quality studies and improved efficiency.” Additionally, CAOA is able to provide data access to the affected high school students, helping them learn first-hand and become more environmentally aware.

CAOA is now scaling their approach to other areas in Africa affected by the air pollution epidemic. Malawi is one such African country that lacks meaningful air quality monitoring and regulations. The EPIC Air Quality Fund recently funded the Malawi Initiative for Clean Air Solutions initiative, which was co-created by a coalition from local universities, government, and CAOA. The plan is to install reference-grade monitors and micro air sensors at Mzuzu University and use the findings to drive a national discourse on the potential for a “Malawi Clean Air Act.” The Malawi Initiative for Clean Air Solutions initiative requires that the monitoring supports OpenAQ and CAOA is a strong voice for open data aggregation.

As I complete my discussions with Collins, Victor, and Lily, I reflect on what I have heard and the backdrop of a million premature deaths per year. I am impressed and hopeful by their approach of coupling local primary evidence with community, student, and political engagement. Changing ingrained perceptions and getting new policies enacted can be difficult and slow, especially for an “invisible” issue like air pollution. It takes expertise, dedication, creativity, persistence, and passion. I am thankful the team at CAOA has just that.

Sources

[1] Air pollution and development in Africa: impacts on health, the economy, and human capital. Samantha Fisher, Prof David C Bellinger, Prof Maureen L Cropper, Pushpam Kumar, Prof Agnes Binagwaho, Juliette Biao Koudenoukpo, et al. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(21)00201-1/fulltext

[2] The United States Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/progress-cleaning-air-and-improving-peoples-health

[3] European Green Deal: Commission proposes rules for cleaner air and water. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_6278

[4] Application of air sensors to support clean cooking initiatives at education centres in low- and middle-income countries using Accra High School, Ghana as a case study. Victor Dzidefo Ablo, Collins Gameli Hodoli, Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, Kojo Tsikata, Lord Offei-Darko, Angela Schmitt, Reginald Quansah, Carl Malings, Daniel M Westervelt, and Mohammed Iqbal Mead. https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU24/EGU24-202.html