Drawing on powerful insights from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, Astrid Puentes Riaño, this episode connects global evidence to local realities in Ghana. From rising health risks in urban centres like Accra to the disproportionate burden on vulnerable communities, the episode shows how polluted air affects every stage of life—and why the crisis is both preventable and solvable.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

Michael Asharley speaks with journalist Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith, whose investigation traces the connection between environmental conditions and disease. 

Blending science with deeply human stories, including the lasting impact on survivors, the episode highlights a crisis that is both preventable and persistent. 

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

In this episode, host Michael Asharley explores how Independence Day became a platform for environmental activism, speaking with Betty Adjei of the Green Africa Youth Organization and Lord Offei-Darko of UrbanBetter Accra Cityzens. Together, they unpack the growing public health crisis linked to poor air quality, the challenges of waste management, and why existing laws are failing to deliver real change.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

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 a story that asks a difficult question: Are we investing far more in treatment than in prevention?

The episode begins with Adiza, diagnosed with asthma and hypertension after years of exposure to polluted air. Her experience reflects a broader pattern doctors and environmental experts are increasingly concerned about. Yet Ghana has only a limited number of high-grade air quality monitors, and pollution is still not consistently framed as a central public health issue.

Kingsley explains what surprised him most during his reporting, how officials responded when pressed about prevention, and why connecting the dots between pollution and disease remains so challenging.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

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. Women like Margaret Awuni, diagnosed with chronic bronchitis after years of tending smoky kilns. When her doctor asked if she smoked marijuana, she laughed. Her only habit was burning charcoal to survive.

The episode explores a growing health crisis in Sokoban, where PM2.5 pollution levels have reportedly soared far beyond safe limits, asthma cases are rising, and tensions are mounting between charcoal producers and residents. A court injunction ordered the women to stop burning wood near homes, but many refused — not out of defiance, but because relocation could mean losing their only source of income.

Beyond the smoke lies a deeper story about poverty, weak enforcement, deforestation, and the high cost of traditional charcoal production. Ghana continues to lose forest cover each year, while inefficient kilns waste most of the wood they burn.

Can livelihoods be protected without sacrificing lungs? Is there a realistic path toward cleaner production that women can afford?

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

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 capturing the country’s environmental realities, and rising photographer Judy Yayra Avanu, who is beginning to tell those stories through her own lens.

From open burning and traffic fumes to food vendors working under layers of dust, the episode examines how photography turns invisible pollution into visible proof. It also confronts the challenges of documenting environmental harm in public spaces, and asks whether powerful images can move authorities from awareness to action.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

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, they explain how polluted air contributes to asthma, pneumonia, heart strain, and long-term developmental harm — particularly during pregnancy, early childhood, and old age.

The conversation connects what hospitals are seeing during periods of heavy traffic and burning with the everyday exposure families face while walking to school, waiting for transport, or sitting in traffic. It also looks at practical steps households can take to reduce risk, alongside the policy gaps that continue to leave vulnerable groups unprotected. 

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

Michael is joined by Raphael Arku, an Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, whose research has tracked particle pollution in Accra since the early 2000s. Their conversation breaks down where pollution comes from, how scientists trace it to specific sources, and why long-term particle data offers insights that short-term measurements often miss.

From transport emissions and biomass burning to the growing impact of waste burning and even sea salt, the episode shows how progress in one area can be undermined by setbacks in another. It is a careful, evidence-led look at why clean air is not a one-time achievement, but an ongoing challenge shaped by policy choices, urban growth, and how closely we listen to the data. 

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

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 underscores the often overlooked danger of household air pollution, particularly for women and children. It also includes perspectives from Desmond Appiah of the Clean Air Fund, and Hamza Bawa Mahama of People’s Dialogue on Human Settlements, who explains how community-led air quality monitoring is changing who owns pollution data.

Through expert voices and reflections from the fellows themselves, the episode explores how data, policy, and lived experience must come together to tell more inclusive clean air stories. 

This is a behind-the-scenes look at the thinking shaping the next phase of air pollution reporting in Ghana. 

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

The episode features journalist Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith of A1 Radio, whose reporting traces how dust, mould, and poor ventilation can turn routine travel into a health hazard. Beginning with a passenger’s alarming experience, the investigation expands into a wider national gap where indoor transport air quality goes unmeasured and largely unregulated.

As passengers spend eight to fifteen hours sealed inside buses, the episode asks where responsibility lies when risks are normalised and data is missing. It is a careful examination of mobility, regulation, and the invisible conditions shaping everyday journeys across the country. 

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

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 Daniel Westervelt, an atmospheric scientist at Columbia University, whose research examines whether Ghana’s short-lived emissions levy had any measurable impact on pollution levels, particularly PM2.5. The analysis was conducted as part of a Clean Air Fund–supported research project focused on Ghana.

The conversation explores why long-term data matters, how seasonal factors like the harmattan complicate policy evaluation, what the numbers reveal about vehicles and other pollution sources, and why Ghana’s PM2.5 levels remain a serious public health concern. Using tools such as the WHO’s AirQ+, the episode also connects pollution trends to estimated health impacts in cities including Accra, Kumasi, and Tamale.

This is a clear-eyed look at what happens when environmental policy moves faster than enforcement, data, and political patience.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

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, mechanics, and children) many of whom have little ability to avoid the pollution.

This episode of Clean Air Report Ghana looks into how the theft and deliberate removal of catalytic converters is worsening air quality in Accra and Kumasi. 

Drawing on investigations by journalists Caleb Ahinakwah and Mahmud Mohammed-Nurudeen, the episode follows how converters are stolen and traded, why some drivers choose to remove them, and how weak enforcement has allowed the practice to become routine.

The episode asks why existing roadworthiness and emissions rules are failing to protect breathable air, and what it would take to stop a problem that is largely hidden beneath our vehicles but felt in every breath.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

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 pollution around them.

Host, Michael Asharley is joined by journalist Jennifer Ambolley, whose recent reporting follows traders, women, and families facing chronic illness, lost income, and rising medical costs linked directly to air pollution. Drawing on lived experiences and public health evidence, the episode shows how dirty air deepens inequality, widens health gaps, and locks households into cycles of vulnerability.

As Ghana works toward long-term air quality targets, this conversation asks a hard but necessary question: if clean air is a public good, why is it still distributed like a luxury?

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

The episode features voices from Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, and Ghana, as participants share how the intensive training has deepened their understanding of air pollution, public health, and environmental responsibility. From monitoring and data analysis to communication, community engagement, and policy influence, the school is equipping a new generation with practical tools grounded in African realities.

As researchers, communicators, industry practitioners, and youth advocates reflect on what they are taking back to their home countries, the episode captures a growing continental network committed to cleaner air. It is a story of shared learning, cross-border collaboration, and the emergence of clean air champions determined to turn knowledge into action.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

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 invisible visible, the episode asks a crucial question: now that we know where the problem is, will action follow?

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

Michael Asharley sits down with Dr. Elvis Gyeabuor, Portfolio Manager for Breathe Accra, to explore how this initiative is transforming Accra’s approach to clean air. They discuss why Accra was chosen, the partnerships driving the work, key milestones from the past two years, and how data is reshaping decisions in health, transport, and urban planning.

From schools and communities using clean-air insights for the first time, to city authorities integrating pollution data into policy, this episode reveals how Breathe Accra is building the foundations for a healthier city — and what it will take to sustain the progress once the programme ends.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

In this episode of Clean Air Report Ghana on Joy 99.7 FM, host Michael Asharley speaks with Dr. Pallavi Pant, Head of Global Initiatives at the Health Effects Institute, about the findings of the State of Global Air 2025 Report — a sobering look at how polluted air is quietly fueling heart disease, respiratory illness, and, for the first time, dementia.

The conversation unpacks why Africa’s air-pollution burden keeps rising even as global awareness grows, how Ghana’s new Air Quality Management Regulations could help, and what lessons the continent can learn from countries that have successfully cleaned their air.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

In this episode of Clean Air Report Ghana, Albert — a reporter with the Ghana News Agency and a New Narratives Clean Air Fellow — reflects on his recent win as Best in News Reporting (Online) at the 29th Ghana Journalists Association Awards. It was the second big win for him in a week. A few days before the GJA award, he also picked up the Eric and Wendy Schmidt award for excellence in science communication from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine in the United States. His investigative stories on air pollution didn’t just inform; they provoked national discussion and inspired action.

Albert talks about what motivates his reporting, the challenges of covering environmental issues, and how the Clean Air Fellowship has shaped his journalism. He also shares what he’s learned from years of covering the human and policy sides of Ghana’s pollution crisis — and why awareness remains the first step toward cleaner, healthier air.

As the country continues to confront one of its most silent public health threats, this conversation explores how committed journalists can bridge the gap between science, policy, and the people most affected.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

Michael speaks with Jacob Johnson Attakpah from the Green Africa Youth Organization about how these funding cuts are hitting grassroots environmental projects in Ghana. From waste recovery centres to youth-led air monitoring, the work continues — but the money is running out.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

In this episode of Clean Air Report Ghana on Joy 99.7 FM, host Michael Asharley asks a critical question: why is the world investing less in saving the air we breathe? He breaks down the latest State of Global Air Quality Funding Report, which reveals that support for outdoor air quality dropped by 20%, while projects prolonging fossil fuels more than doubled to $9.5 billion.

Michael speaks with Desmond Appiah, Ghana Lead for the Clean Air Fund, about what this funding decline means for Ghana’s progress, the structural barriers that stall interventions, and the innovative financing models that could keep clean air efforts alive even when donor priorities shift.

From dwindling global aid to the search for local solutions, this episode explores how Ghana — and Africa — can keep breathing hope into the fight for clean air.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

Michael Asharley investigates a new report by the FCDO, Pure Earth, and the EPA, revealing alarming levels of mercury in the air across artisanal and small-scale mining communities. When mercury is burned to extract gold, it releases invisible, toxic vapour that threatens not just miners, but entire families and nearby towns.

Michael speaks with Rev. Dr. Esmond Wisdom Quansah of Pure Earth, Dr. Dezel Tay of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, and Dr. John Arko-Mensah of the University of Ghana School of Public Health about how mercury exposure harms the brain, kidneys, and lungs — and what must change to protect both livelihoods and lives.

From Prestea to Konongo, this episode exposes the hidden health cost of Ghana’s gold rush — and why cleaner, mercury-free methods are the only way forward.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

In this episode, Jennifer Ambolley of The Chronicle Newspaper shares the stories of market women battling breast cancer while working in smoke-filled stalls and roadside chaos. Then, Kayleb Ahinakwah takes us to the streets, where hawkers breathing in exhaust fumes all day are showing alarming rates of hypertension.

From busy markets to congested highways, the episode reveals how air pollution is not just an environmental problem — it’s a growing public health crisis linked to some of Ghana’s most pressing diseases.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

In this episode of Clean Air Report Ghana, host Michael Asharley explores why Ghana’s air pollution crisis remains unresolved despite decades of monitoring and dozens of overlapping mandates. With more than 30,000 air pollution-related deaths every year, experts say the country’s fragmented approach is costing lives.

Michael speaks with Desmond Appiah, Ghana Lead at the Clean Air Fund, who argues that Ghana urgently needs a single, consolidated national clean air policy to bring clarity and accountability. Selina Amoah, Director of the Air Quality Unit at the EPA, reflects on Parliament’s new Air Quality Management Regulation and what it could mean in practice. And Jacob Attakpah of Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO) makes the case for youth action and zero waste solutions at the community level.

From government offices to grassroots campaigns, this episode unpacks the one question that could define Ghana’s clean air future: who is really in charge of the air we breathe?

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

In this episode of Clean Air Report Ghana, host Michael Asharley speaks with Tanushree Ganguly, Director of the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) at the University of Chicago, to unpack the latest AQLI 2025 findings. The data reveals that air pollution is now the single greatest external threat to human life expectancy — and West Africa is among the hardest-hit regions.

From the hidden dangers in Ghana’s air to the new parliamentary regulation on air quality management, this conversation explores the numbers behind the crisis and what they mean for our health, our policies, and our future.

Listen as Tanushree breaks down the data gaps, the regional disparities, and the urgent steps Ghana must take to enforce its new standards — because, as Michael reminds us, every breath counts.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

This first show introduces listeners to a new cohort of clean air reporting fellows embarking on a groundbreaking journey to inform audiences of the dangers of air pollution. We will also meet some of the experts working to bring changes that can save lives and improve our health. And we'll learn what we can do to protect ourselves. 

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

In this episode:

·      As air pollution in Ghana increases so do tuberculosis infections. Nearly twenty thousand Ghanaians died from TB in in 2023 alone as experts warn the two are linked.

·      Residents in industrial zones are battling polluted air. We look closely at Weija in Accra.

·      Women are the backbone of Ghana’s globally successful shea butter industry. But they are paying a price. We meet innovators finding ways to make their job safer. 

AND  

·      Young entrepreneurs introduce clean cooking technology to reduce air pollution in households.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

So welcome to another edition of “Clean Air Report Ghana”, the programme the highlights the severe impacts of air pollution and potential solutions. 

Coming up,

·      Researchers find a link between air pollution and neurological disorders like autism in children . 

·      Road toll collectors across the country ask for government help with illnesses caused by long hours inhaling by toxic vehicle emissions.

·      AND

·      Experts worry about high numbers of respiratory infections caused by dusty roads. We bring you a report from the Sagnarigu in the Northern Region. 

I’m Wonder Ami Hagan, and this is “Clean Air Report Ghana”, a collaboration between New Narratives and leading newsrooms looking at the state of Ghana’s air.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

In this episode,

·      Experts warn a growing number of children in slum areas exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution has worrying implications for Ghana’s future.

·      A young advocate embarks on a cross-country trip on a bicycle to bring attention to alarming levels of air pollution. 

·      We look at how poor enforcement of environmental regulations is denying many Ghanaians their right to clean air. 

AND

·      What can young Ghanaians do to reduce air pollution? We visit BarCamp Ghana – an initiative that brings young people together to tackle air pollution. 

I’m Wonder Ami Hagan, and this is “Clean Air Report Ghana”, a collaboration between New Narratives and leading newsrooms looking at the state of Ghana’s air.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

 Silence descends over one of the country’s biggest industrial zones as workers say they are afraid to report air pollution. Residents and workers grapple with the effects of air pollution from roadworks across the country. Clean cookstoves protect fishmongers resist from blindness and other diseases. Why are they rejecting them?

And... Clean Air Report goes to Johannesburg to see what Ghana can learn about cleaner public transport.

I am Wonder Ami Hagan, and this is “Clean Air Report Ghana”, a collaboration between New Narratives and leading newsrooms looking at the state of Ghana’s air.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

Coming up in this edition:  We look at the high price women across the country pay for smoking fish.  As air pollution in Ghana worsens some MPs are on an ambitious charge to address the problem before it gets out of hand AND with vehicle emissions identified as the leading cause of air pollution in Ghana, we find out how we can all help to reduce pollution from our modes of transport.  

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

The World Health Organization says more than seven million people around the world die each year from air pollution. In Ghana seventy percent of air pollutants come from vehicle emissions. In this episode we look more closely at what’s driving those emissions, how they’re hurting the economy and what can be done to cut them.

Also, we’ve spent a lot of time looking at the more obvious impacts of air pollution - on our health and on our climate. But in Winifred's reporting we found air pollution was posing a major threat in an unexpected place: our food supply. 

The World Bank predicts the yield of Ghana’s staple food – the yam - will drop by nearly 70 percent by 2080 because of climate change and air pollution. Maize and rice yields will drop by up to 25 percent by 2050 in most regions of Ghana. That will increase the price of food and food insecurity. 

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

Coming up in this edition we meet woodworkers in Kumasi who are risking lives and limb to produce the main component in most of the furniture we use. 

Why fishmongers in James Town in Accra prefer traditional ovens over modern clean stoves and the impact of air pollution on their health and we will also hear from an expert on how and why we need to constantly measure air quality in our cities and towns. 

This program is a collaboration between New Narratives and Ghana's leading newsmedia.

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting. 

Clean Air Report Ghana is a collaboration between New Narratives and leading Ghanaian newsrooms. Funding is provided by the Clean Air Fund which had no say in the reporting.