Ghana’s cooling challenges and opportunities

This report outlines the critical cooling and cold chain needs in Ghana across three primary sectors: food, nutrition and agriculture; health services; and human comfort and safety in the built environment. It details the economic and health impacts of inadequate cooling, such as significant food waste, vaccine distribution failures, and rising heat-related mortality, while highlighting the inefficiency of current air-conditioning infrastructure.

• Ghana experiences substantial food loss in its supply chain, totaling 3.2 million tons annually, which results in an economic cost of approximately GHS 762.32 billion. This contributes to food insecurity, affecting roughly 12.9 million people in 2022. The fruit and vegetable sector specifically represents a potential annual revenue of up to USD 900 million if cold storage and refrigerated transport are improved.
• The healthcare cold chain in Ghana is severely limited by unreliable electricity and a lack of infrastructure. In 2021, only 14 temperature-controlled vehicles were available nationwide. These deficiencies hindered the COVID-19 vaccination campaign; despite receiving 600,000 AstraZeneca/Oxford doses in February 2021, only 2.8 percent of the population was vaccinated by July 2021, far below the 87 percent target.
• Urban heat island effects in cities like Accra cause temperatures to be nearly 5°C higher than in surrounding rural areas. Heat stress is projected to cause a loss of 12 percent of working hours in the construction and agriculture sectors by 2030. Under a high-emissions scenario (RCP 8.5), heat-related deaths for those aged 65 and older could rise from under two per 100,000 annually to nearly 70 per 100,000 by 2080.
• Air-conditioning in Ghanaian offices accounts for 60-80 percent of annual electricity consumption, yet the equipment is highly inefficient. 85 percent of air conditioners in the country are in the lowest energy efficiency category (1 star), with the remaining 15 percent falling into the 2 and 3 star categories.
• Gender disparities exacerbate heat risks in urban areas. In Accra, there are 130 women for every 100 men among slum dwellers over 30, leaving over 4.5 million poor urban women at high risk of heat stress, particularly those working as domestic workers and street vendors in the informal sector.

APA

Sustainable Energy for All (n.d.). Ghana’s cooling challenges and opportunities. https://www.seforall.org/ghanas-cooling-challenges-and-opportunities

Chicago

Sustainable Energy for All. Ghana’s cooling challenges and opportunities. n.d. https://www.seforall.org/ghanas-cooling-challenges-and-opportunities.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Sustainable Energy for All |title=Ghana’s cooling challenges and opportunities |url=https://www.seforall.org/ghanas-cooling-challenges-and-opportunities |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sustainableenergyforallndghanas, author = {{Sustainable Energy for All}}, title = {{Ghana’s cooling challenges and opportunities}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, url = {https://www.seforall.org/ghanas-cooling-challenges-and-opportunities}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }