WASARU: an Air Quality Pioneer in the Democratic Republic of Congo
An OpenAQ Community Impact Story byMatt Lane
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the 11th-largest country in the world by land area and home to more than 110 million people. The capital city of Kinshasa alone has a population of 17 million people, the 13th largest in the world. The country has a rich set of natural resources, beautiful mountains, and the planet’s second-largest rainforest (figure 1 below). Unfortunately, the DRC also has a low average life expectancy of 61 years and high rates of malnutrition, diarrhea, cholera, malaria, Ebola, HIV, and respiratory illnesses. [1]
Air pollution is one of the devastating, yet somewhat under-the-radar, environmental factors driving this high disease rate in the DRC. In Africa as a whole, air pollution exposure has been linked to 1 million premature deaths annually. [2] Further, if DRC’s air quality met the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, according to the AQLI (Air Quality Life Index)3 the average life expectancy in the country would increase by 2.9 years, which is the 6th highest such figure in the world. [4]
To learn more from changemakers fighting this epidemic in the DRC, I recently sat down with Paulson Kasereka Isevulambire and Dr. Jean-Luc Balogije Selenge from the non-profit organization WASARU (Water & Sanitation in Rural and Urban Areas, figure 2 below).
“Air pollution has severe health impacts in my country, leading to high rates of asthma, respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular disease, and lower than average infant birth weights,” Paulson explains. Jean-Luc adds, “We have seen dramatic increases in asthma rates from 2019 to 2024, and now see high rates in both adults and children, which indicates that everyone is exposed to air pollution.”
Confronting such a systemic health challenge like air pollution is a formidable task without simple fixes. Nevertheless, Paulson and Jean-Luc are determined to make progress via a three-tiered approach. “We have three major gaps to address: a data gap, an awareness gap, and the lack of a regulatory framework,” Paulson outlines.
While common in North America and Europe, air quality reference monitors and air sensors are rare in Africa, leading to a data vacuum on what is actually happening on the ground in communities. “Monitoring and offering open data is critical as it spurs more research, increases awareness, and arms government officials with evidence for regulations and enforcement,” Jean-Luc explains.
Back in 2019, the city of Kinshasa had no air monitoring whatsoever. Paulson and Professor Daniel Westervelt (Columbia University, USA) deployed five low-cost sensors in the Kinshasa megacity. Using the sensor data plus modeling, the findings from their research demonstrated that Kinshasa’s PM2.5 concentrations averaged 46.1µg/m³, eight times higher than the WHO’s current target (figure 3 below). [5, 6]
In the 2023 follow-up study mentioned above, Professor Westervelt and his research team that includes Paulson and Jean-Luc sought to go further and identify the key sources of Kinshasa’s air pollution and collect data on additional pollutants (NO, NO2, O3, CO, and CO2) by deploying additional low-cost sensors and updating the model. They confirmed that air quality had remained at eight times above WHO guidelines. They also determined that the key pollution drivers were local traffic combustion, local solid fuel burning, and regional biomass burning. [6] In our discussion, Paulson and Jean-Luc also explained that in other DRC areas, such as the southern region of Great Katanga, mining is another leading source of pollution.
After these initial successful pilots, the team at WASARU is now focusing on the next set of challenges: long-term monitoring, raising awareness, and creating an initial regulatory framework. To this end, WASARU partnered with Professor Westervelt and were awarded a grant from the EPIC Air Quality Fund for the KINAQ (Kinshasa Air Quality) project. KINAQ has launched a particulate pollution monitoring network — providing the only open, real-time air quality data in the DRC (figure 4 below). The KINAQ project has chosen AirGradient air sensors for PM2.5 monitoring, deploying 10 in Kinshasa to-date.
KINAQ’s monitoring and corresponding data visualization website is a key anchor capability for WASARU’s awareness effort. “Raising awareness with multiple groups, including vulnerable communities, students, journalists, and politicians is a crucial step as we build towards an entry point for national regulations,” Paulson points out (figure 5 below). Jean-Luc adds, “We are educating these groups on the health risks, the sources of pollution, and key mitigations. For example, would it be possible to mitigate the health impacts through new regulations that would reduce traffic jams?”
KINAQ’s new map-based portal focuses on sharing real-time, actionable information with these key groups and community members. “We are able to summarize the local air quality status in an easy to understand manner. We also propagate the data into OpenAQ for broader use by the worldwide research community,” Paulson explains (figure 6 below). AirGradient makes this data sharing easy because of their commitment to open data. They encourage sharing of air quality data and algorithms as a public good.
WASARU then does a fantastic job rolling out the data and educating the next generation of young people on the importance of the environment and air quality as part of their “School Actions for Clean Air” initiative (figure 7 below).
Lastly, WASARU is undertaking the pivotal action of helping to spur the development of DRC’s first national air quality policy. Paulson explains, “The timing is ideal as our National Sanitation Policy is being revised for the first time since 2013 to align with SDG 11.6 [U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 11.6, which focuses on reducing the environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management]. Through WASARU’s advisory role, the National Sanitation Policy will be extended to incorporate air quality.” (figure 8 below)
In their National Sanitation Policy guidance note, Paulson and Jean-Luc emphasize that air quality is closely linked to sanitation management: landfills produce methane (a potent greenhouse gas), the open burning of waste releases pollutants, and wastewater treatment systems can release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and malodorous gases that degrade air quality. Further, the guidance note recommends that the sanitation policy be revised to cover six air pollution strategic focus areas:
- Strengthening the Legal and Regulatory Framework
- Improving Knowledge and Monitoring
- Integrated Management of Pollution Sources
- Capacity Building and Stakeholder Involvement
- Promotion of Public Health, Environment, and Awareness
- Alignment and Intersectoral Cooperation
Paulson is excited and states, “The revised policy is our entry point. It will include key elements such as regular monitoring, the management of polluting sources, and coordinating services between ministries.”
As we conclude our conversation, I ask Paulson and Jean-Luc what is next for WASARU. “The work is just beginning, and my biggest concern is that we need additional funding by the end of the year to keep making progress,” Paulson responds. Unfortunately, WASARU’s funding needs are not unusual given the state of financing to address air pollution in Africa. According to the Clean Air Fund, outdoor air pollution is massively underfunded compared to other development areas and low-income countries receive a disproportionately small percentage of this small bucket. [7]
As I reflect on our discussion, I am impressed and thankful that Paulson and Jean-Luc are providing digestible, open air quality data in order to try to get new life-saving policies enacted in the DRC. I also hope the international community will step up and increase funding for the air quality epidemic in lower-income countries, supporting worthwhile organizations like WASARU.
Notes and References
- World Health Organization. https://data.who.int/countries/180
- 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
- The Air Quality Life Index, or AQLI, converts air pollution concentrations into their impact on life expectancy. Produced by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC), the AQLI is based on research by EPIC’s director Michael Greenstone that quantified the causal relationship between human exposure to air pollution and reduced life expectancy.
- The University of Chicago AQLI index, https://aqli.epic.uchicago.edu/the-index/.
- First Measurements of Ambient PM2.5 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo and Brazzaville, Republic of Congo Using Field-calibrated Low-cost Sensors. Celeste McFarlane, Paulson Kasereka Isevulambire, Raymond Sinsi Lumbuenamo, Arnold Murphy Elouma Ndinga, Ranil Dhammapala, Xiaomeng Jin, V. Faye McNeil, Carl Malings, R. Subramanian, Daniel M. Westervelt, https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.200619)
- Low-Cost Investigation into Sources of PM2.5 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Daniel M. Westervelt, Paulson Kasereka Isevulambire, Rodriguez Yombo Phaka, Laura H. Yang, Garima Raheja, George Milly, Jean-Luc Balogije Selenge, Jean Pierre Mfuamba Mulumba, Dimitrios Bousiotis, Buenimio Lomami Djibi, V. Faye McNeill, Nga L. Ng, Francis Pope, Guillaume Kiyombo Mbela, Joel Nkiama Konde. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsestair.3c00024
- Clean Air Fund. https://www.cleanairfund.org/resource/air-quality-funding-2024/
