A new technology promises to change shea butter processing

Tamale (N/R): Lamnatu Seidu works six days a week in this shea butter processing centre here in Sagnarigu District. The 52-year-old mother of five is shrouded in smoke as she roasts nuts in a traditional roaster fueled by firewood and shea cake. She coughs and wipes her red eyes every few minutes. The smoke makes…

Clean cookstoves offer benefits but many fishmongers cannot afford them

Smoking fish has long been a dangerous job for the women and children who labor over toxic smoke. Many develop blindness, asthma and other illnesses preparing the food that we rely on. But traditional smoking can also harm us. Smoking adds pollutants to the fish that can impact our health. Currently, health experts are calling…

Air pollution in slums sickening children; harming brain development- experts 

Agbogbloshie (G/A) April 25, GNA- Baby Hawa peers sleepily from the lappa strapping her to her mother’s back. Her mother, Mariama Issahaque, fries yams that she sells to residents and workers here.   One-year-old Hawa looks sickly. Her faint cry is broken up by a weak cough. Mucus drips from her nose.   The smoke from Mariama’s…

Highway construction health hazard: Accra residents appeal for dust relief

The Ofankor-Pokuase-Nsawam highway has become a dust-choked battleground, leaving residents and workers grappling with air pollution. The stretch spans more than thirty kilometres and ferries thousands of commuters daily. After enduring years of a road plagued with potholes, this road rehabilitation has become a new inconvenience for the community. Stephen Agyekum, a resident, expresses his…