Clean Air Report Ghana

What happens when a security measure unexpectedly sparks a clean transport revolution? In this episode of Clean Air Report Ghana , host Michael Asharley speaks with JoyNews journalist Mahmud Mohammed-Nurudeen about the increasing adoption of electric motorcycles in Bawku and the surprising benefits residents say they are experiencing.  What began as a response to restrictions on petrol-powered mot...

For millions of people living with asthma, the air they breathe can mean the difference between a normal day and a medical emergency. From dust rising off roads under construction to vehicle emissions, burning waste and cooking smoke, air pollution is increasingly becoming a dangerous trigger for respiratory illness across Ghana. In this episode, Michael Asharley speaks with Ghanaian Times journal...

You cannot solve a problem you cannot measure. Across Africa, millions of people are exposed to air pollution every day, yet many countries still lack the monitoring systems, data and technical expertise needed to fully understand the scale of the crisis.  In this episode, Michael Asharley takes listeners inside the third Air Quality Sensor Evaluation and Training Facility for West Africa (Afri-SE...

Air pollution is often treated as a problem that only matters when the smoke becomes visible or the dust becomes unbearable. But by then, the damage may already be underway.  In this episode, Michael Asharley speaks with three young climate and clean air advocates who are working to change how Ghanaians understand the risks hidden in the air they breathe every day. From fishing communities in Jame...

Across Ghana, a new generation is stepping forward to confront one of the country’s most pressing environmental and public health challenges: air pollution. From classrooms and churches to research labs and data hubs, young advocates are educating communities, gathering evidence and building momentum for cleaner air. Host, Michael Asharley speaks with three Air Quality Ambassadors from the African...

Air pollution may be invisible, but across Ghana, a growing movement is working to make it impossible to ignore. From installing air quality sensors in communities to educating the public about the risks of dirty air, a new generation of advocates and researchers is turning data into action. In this episode, Michael Asharley speaks with clean air advocate and research assistant Evans Quarshie, who...

Ghana’s decision to legalise commercial motorcycles, widely known as Okada, has been hailed as a major shift in transport policy, promising jobs, convenience and faster movement through congested cities. But beyond the economic benefits lies another reality: thousands of riders now spend long hours breathing in dangerous levels of traffic pollution every single day. In this episode, Michael Asharl...

Every breath we take contains more than oxygen. It can also carry microscopic particles capable of entering the lungs, bloodstream and vital organs. Yet for billions of people around the world, that danger remains invisible. In this episode, Michael Asharley examines the findings of the 2025 World Air Quality Report, one of the largest global analyses of air pollution ever conducted, covering more...

For millions of families in Ghana, cooking with charcoal and firewood is part of daily life - the crackling fire, the smoke-filled kitchen, the familiar routines of preparing meals. But behind that ordinary scene lies a growing public health concern that experts say is increasingly harming families, especially women and children. In this episode, host Michael Asharley speaks with journalist Jennif...

Air pollution is often framed as an environmental or public health issue. But what if it is also a question of human rights? In this episode, Michael Asharley explores the idea that clean air is not a luxury, but a fundamental part of human dignity—something every person is entitled to, yet millions are denied every day. Drawing on powerful insights from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on th...

Every year, the harmattan sweeps across northern Ghana, coating communities in fine dust from the Sahara. But beyond the haze lies a more dangerous reality. Health experts say the same dry, dusty air is closely linked to recurring outbreaks of cerebrospinal meningitis, a disease that returns almost every dry season and continues to claim lives. Michael Asharley speaks with journalist Mark Kwasi Ah...

On a day typically defined by parades, patriotic speeches and national pride, some young Ghanaians chose a different path in marking Independence Day in Ghana. Instead of celebrating, they took to the streets, demanding urgent action on air pollution — an issue estimated to contribute to more than 32,000 deaths annually in the country. In this episode, host Michael Asharley explores how Independen...

Ghana spends billions of cedis treating chronic diseases like stroke, diabetes, asthma and hypertension. But what if one of the major triggers is something we rarely confront directly — the air we breathe? Michael Asharley speaks with reporter Kingsley E. Hope of the Ghanaian Times about his investigation into the growing disconnect between rising chronic illness and rising air pollution. He wrote...

In Sokoban, a suburb of Kumasi, the air hangs heavy with smoke. Not from traffic. Not from harmattan. But from burning wood — the backbone of a charcoal trade that feeds families while quietly damaging lungs. In this episode, host Michael Asharley sits down with Asaase Radio reporter Lordina Agyemang to unpack her powerful story on the women at the heart of Ghana’s informal charcoal industry. Wome...

Air pollution is often described in numbers — PM2.5 levels, emission rates, regulatory limits. But what happens when the evidence is not a chart, but a photograph? In this episode of Clean Air Report Ghana , host Michael Asharley explores how images are being used to document and expose air pollution across Ghana. His guests are veteran photojournalist David Andoh, who has spent more than 15 years...

Air pollution does not affect everyone the same way. In this episode of Clean Air Report Ghana , host Michael Asharleyexamines why children and older adults bear the heaviest health burden when the air becomes unsafe. Drawing on frontline medical experience and child health expertise, Michael speaks with Carl Osei of the Ghana Health Service and Emmanuel Kyeremateng-Amoah of UNICEF Ghana. Together...

What can nearly twenty years of air quality data tell us about the city we live in today? In this episode of Clean Air Report Ghana , host Michael Asharley looks back at some of the earliest detailed measurements of air pollution in Accra — and what they reveal about how the city’s air has changed over time. Michael is joined by Raphael Arku, an Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences...

What does it take to report air pollution responsibly in Ghana, and whose voices should shape the story?  In this episode of Clean Air Report Ghana, host Michael Asharley takes listeners inside a three-day workshop in Accra where journalists from across Ghana compared notes, challenged assumptions, and strengthened their reporting. The episode features insights from Prof. Reginald Quansah, who und...

Long-distance buses keep Ghana moving, but what happens to the air passengers breathe during hours-long journeys is rarely questioned. In this episode of Clean Air Report Ghana , host Michael Asharley looks inside Ghana’s long-distance buses to examine a largely overlooked public health risk: the quality of air circulating inside enclosed vehicles. The episode features journalist Mark Kwasi Ahumah...

In December 2023, Ghana introduced an emissions levy meant to make polluters pay and, ultimately, make the air cleaner. By February 2024 it was in force. By 2025, it was gone. In this episode of Clean Air Report Ghana , host Michael Asharley asks a simple but uncomfortable question: did the policy ever have a chance to work? Drawing on nearly 25 years of air quality data, the episode features Dani...

A growing number of vehicles on Ghana’s roads are emitting far more pollution than they should — not because they are old or broken, but because a critical pollution-control part is missing. Cars without converters release untreated exhaust into streets already crowded with pedestrians and traders. The people most exposed are those who spend long hours near traffic (market women, drivers, mechanic...

Air pollution is often described as an environmental problem. In reality, it is a poverty problem. This episode of Clean Air Report Ghana examines how dirty air in Accra is punishing those with the least power to escape it. From informal markets to densely populated neighbourhoods near traffic and waste sites, poorer communities are breathing the worst air — despite contributing the least to the p...

Clean air advocacy in Africa is taking shape in lecture halls, laboratories, and everyday conversations far beyond policy spaces. In this episode of Clean Air Report Ghana , Michael Asharley takes listeners to Kumasi for an inside look at the African School on Air Quality and Pollution Prevention hosted at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The episode features voices from Ken...

Across 13 municipal assemblies in Accra, detailed air quality monitoring has exposed hidden pollution hotspots, linking everyday activities to serious health risks. Host, Michael Asharley, speaks with Dr. Joseph Ayitio, Managing Director of PSS Urbania, about how measuring pollutants like PM₂.₅, PM₁₀, and sulphur dioxide is changing planning, enforcement, and public awareness.  As data makes the i...

Accra is getting something it has never had before: a clear, real-time picture of the air its residents breathe. In just two years, the Breathe Accra programme — part of the global Breathe Cities Initiative backed by Bloomberg Philanthropies, C40, and the Clean Air Fund — has deployed more than 100 air-quality sensors across the city, creating the most detailed pollution map in Ghana’s history. Mi...