Information and Air Quality in African Cities

Project Co-Led with Professor J. Andrew Harris

Air pollution poses a major public health challenge across Africa, contributing to an estimated 1.1 million premature deaths each year. Yet comparatively little is known about what people understand about air pollution, how they perceive its risks, or whether better information can increase demand for cleaner air. Research on public opinion about air pollution has overwhelmingly focused on higher-income settings; a recent review found that only 1% of studies focused on low-income countries (Fletcher 2022; Henninger et al. 2026).

We investigate these questions in Kampala, Uganda, and Nairobi, Kenya, using representative surveys of approximately 2,400 residents in each city and embedded information experiments. We ask whether providing people with clear, locally relevant information about air pollution changes their knowledge, concern, prioritisation, policy preferences, and willingness to act.

View of Mbuya, Kampala, in times of high and low levels of air pollution. Photo credit: Melina Platas (2025)

How did the study work?

In each city, respondents were randomly assigned to either receive no additional information or watch a short, locally tailored video about air pollution. One version explained what air pollution is and how it affects health, while a second also highlighted examples of policies governments can use to improve air quality. The videos were approximately two and a half minutes long and were developed in collaboration with AirQo. In Kampala, we also tested whether weekly SMS updates about local air quality could reinforce the effects of the initial intervention by sending such alerts and then re-surveying them after 6 months.

What did we find?

Knowledge about air pollution was very low in both cities.

More than 90% of respondents had never heard of the Air Quality Index (AQI), most underestimated the number of deaths caused by air pollution, and many did not recognise important sources of pollution, particularly biomass burning from cooking.

Perceived causes of air pollution in Kampala and Nairobi

The informational videos increased both knowledge and concern, but effects on other outcomes were more uneven.

Respondents who watched a video showed greater knowledge about air pollution and higher levels of concern in both Kampala and Nairobi. In Kampala, the videos also increased the prioritisation of air pollution and modestly increased support for pollution-reducing policies; these effects were not observed in Nairobi. The videos did not increase behavioural intentions in either city.

Effect of any informational video on knowledge, concern, and prioritisation, compared to no information. Pooled estimate includes city fixed effects. Error bars are 95% CIs. Models do not include demographic or socioeconomic covariates. Knowledge combines respondents’ understanding of how local air pollution compares with highly polluted cities globally, whether governments can successfully reduce air pollution, and which parts of the body can be affected by air pollution. Concern combines worry about air pollution affecting oneself or one’s family, concern about air pollution in one’s neighbourhood, and beliefs about whether air pollution will have a serious impact on one’s life. Prioritisation measures whether respondents identify air pollution as the most important environmental issue in their community.

Most effects did not persist over time.

In Kampala, almost none of the video treatment effects remained six months later. Weekly SMS messages reporting local air quality also did not shift the outcomes measured in the study.

Information can close important knowledge gaps, but its effects beyond knowledge and concern are more limited and context-dependent.

Learn more:

Explore the Kampala Air Quality Study Website
Nairobi Air Quality Study Website Coming Soon