How Does Air Pollution Compare to Malnutrition in Africa?

Ask a bunch of people what the worst problem is in Africa – you can guarantee the majority will say malnutrition. Childhood malnutrition especially is causing hundreds of thousands of people to die every year. Given this shocking level of devastation, it’s probably the right place to start if you want to put other problems into context. So why not pollution? Does air pollution come anywhere near malnutrition as a threat to life?

Calculating the impact

To compare the two, you firstly need a calculation, or an accurate estimate of how many deaths are caused by both. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have provided exactly that. Using data from the 2013 Global Burden of Disease Study they were able to calculate total deaths per year – as well as changes over time – for air pollution and malnutrition, as well as other causes.

They found over 450,000 African deaths that were caused by household air pollution in 2013. On top of that, around 250,000 were caused by particulate matter in the air. Malnutrition, on the other hand, accounts for around 275,000 deaths per year. With the two types of air pollution combined, it could almost triple the fatality of malnutrition.

In their study, the OECD have also calculated the economic impact of these deaths. Using their own work on the ‘value of statistical life’, they estimate that the deaths in Africa are costing around 450 billion US dollars for air pollution alone. Amongst other things, it’s a huge hindrance on economies that are trying to grow.

And it’s getting worse…

What’s even more shocking is the progression over time. From 1990 to 2013, deaths from particulate matter increased by 36% and household air pollution by 18%. Malnutrition is still a massive problem, but as these statistic shows, air pollution is getting worse and worse as time goes on.

The efforts to use cleaner fuels and reduce harmful emissions simply aren’t reaching poorer countries, as is the case with parts of Africa. It’s quite the opposite in fact. As richer countries develop more environmentally friendly transport, for instance, the inefficient vehicles and dirty fuels are moved to poorer African countries.

How should they move forward?

With economies relying on high-emissions vehicles, parts of Africa are certainly in a tricky situation. But with the cost of air pollution estimated at nearly 450 billion US dollars, it would benefit their economy in the long term to make changes. Positive changes have already been added in other areas. Some oil and gas fields, as discussed in ‘ABB Process Makes Oily Wastewater Clean Again’, have been improved by water treatment technology to reduce their environmental impact in both emissions and discharge.