State of Air Quality in Zimbabwe: A Link to SDG 3.9

Air pollution remains a leading environmental health challenge facing the world today. Besides, air pollution is also driving global warming and climate change. The purpose of this chapter was to evaluate the status of air quality monitoring and management in Zimbabwe through a bibliometric review. A search on an online database Scopus was conducted for the period 1990–2021 yielding a total of 25 air quality studies. Further analysis was performed within the VOS Viewer Software indicating that the majority of studies were done in the capital city of Harare. Furthermore, this chapter noted that presently there is no existing continuous air quality monitoring network in Zimbabwe that can facilitate evidence-based policy formulation. This therefore presents an opportunity for both the public and private sectors to invest in the field of air quality monitoring and management to enhance appropriate intervention strategies to assist in the fulfilment of Sustainable Development Goals number 3.9. Furthermore, to enhance better understanding on air quality information and education, there is a need to devise platforms which are easily accessible by community members. With the high cell phone penetration in Zimbabwe can take advantage of this digital platform to educate communities on both indoor and ambient air pollution. At the moment such an educational platform does not exist in Zimbabwe; therefore, the majority of community members are unaware of the sources of emissions and the human health and environmental impacts.