In a second-floor cafe at an upmarket mall in Ghana’s capital Accra, a customer asks Dorys Fagbohoun for a straw for his fresh smoothie. With a smile, she politely tells him no.

Her vegan cafe and natural health goods shop, Mahorgany Boutique and Cafe, reflects a growing demand for healthy, sustainable food and goods in this West African city. But it also reflects the issues that come with advocating for this lifestyle in Ghana. While the capital Accra has yoga studios, organic produce deliveries, and weekly green markets to get handmade soaps or bags from recycled materials, it’s hard to ignore the reality on the ground for the vast majority.

Joshua Amponsem, Executive Director of Green Africa Youth Organization and Research Director of Ghana Youth Climate Coalition, says it’s “just a handful of the population in Accra—mostly environmental activists, expatriates, and returnees” who are championing this movement. While there is a growing atmosphere of environmentalism in Accra, he says, it needs to be more inclusive across an increasingly divided society.

Ghanaians are becoming more aware of sustainable and green living (in) Ghana, but mostly angled to the educated ones. We still have to do more in order to get this education—more understanding—to the uneducated people....Consumer needs have been revolving around reduction in the use of plastics, paper packing, composting in households, and waste segregation. As there are efforts as these, there is still a huge infrastructural gap which doesn’t permit the middle class person to practice the above with ease.” - Solomon Amuzu

Read the full article about the Accra Green Movement from Food Tank