By VINCENT OWINO

More by this Author

After winning $1 million in a global entrepreneurship challenge, a team of Kenyan students is taking up a new task: To establish a company to produce biodegradable sanitary pads to solve period-related problems.

The five third-year communications students of St Paul’s University in Limuru, in Kiambu County, beat more than 10,000 others from across the world to bag the prestigious annual Hult Prize. The award recognises innovative social enterprises that address the “world’s most pressing issues”.

With their new enterprise called Eco-Bana, Lennox Omondi, Keylie Muthoni, Brian Ndung’u, Shiltone Dullah, and Emmanuel Tony, all aged 20 to 23, say their product can end period poverty and plastic sanitary pad pollution, and reduce youth unemployment.

Their company will make biodegradable sanitary pads from banana fibre, which is often discarded as waste. The raw material reduces their costs, allowing them to avail their product in the market at affordable prices.

Mr Omondi, the organisation’s chief executive, said their main goal is to ensure as many girls as possible can afford sanitary pads. Their product will also solve the decades-long problem of pollution caused by polyvinyl chloride – the plastic used to make most pads that are 90 percent plastic.

“Many leaders often say charity is not enough. That’s why we thought of making affordable sanitary towels so they don’t have to rely on charity,” he said.

Mr Omondi has been a champion of menstrual health since graduating from high school.

“I first thought of making re-usable pads, but then I felt that would be too demeaning to a person’s dignity and water is also scarce in Kenya,” he said. “Then it struck me that cheap biodegradable pads could solve two serious problems — period poverty and pollution.”

Challenge

Period poverty, the inability to afford menstrual products, is a widespread challenge in the region. Unicef estimates that about 65 percent of women in Kenya and 85 percent in Tanzania cannot afford hygienic sanitary products.

In Uganda, about a quarter of girls, aged 12 – 18, drop out of school once they begin menstruating, also a consequence of period poverty. In Rwanda, 18 percent of women and girls are estimated to miss school and work because of periods.

Ms Muthoni, who is the company’s chief operations officer, had to drop out of school for some time because her family couldn’t afford sanitary towels.

With the $1 million in winnings, Eco-Bana is set to be the world’s first manufacturer of biodegradable pads. They will retail at nearly half the average price ordinary pads cost in the market, with equivalent comfort and quality.

Mr Dullah, Eco-Bana’s chief financial officer, said they have a well-defined plan on how to use the money to build a multi-million-dollar social enterprise that employs more than 2,000 people, in the next two years.

Their first step is to construct a manufacturing plant, which he says will either be in the counties of Kisii or Meru, the country’s leading producers of banana.

They also plan to start an environmental campaign to sensitise people on the benefits of shifting to the biodegradable sanitary products.

“We know we are venturing into a market that already has several players, and not many people are aware of the plastic pollution problem. So as much as our pads will be cheaper, informing people about their environmental benefit will be crucial,” Mr Dullah said.

As they are gearing up to set up the company, they are aware of the challenges ahead.

“Since the inception of this idea last year, we have faced multiple challenges, from raising funds for building our prototypes to getting the requisite skills to build a standard product, but we’ve navigated all of them and soared through,” said Mr Omondi. “We are all young, but I’m certain we have the skills we need to effectively manage this company into a successful enterprise.”

Their goal is to avail their product across the continent, and eventually globally.

Within the next two years, they are confident they will be among the country’s leading employers and will have their product across East Africa, if not the entire continent.

The five third-year communications students of St Paul’s University in Limuru, central Kenya, beat more than 10,000 others from across the globe to bag the prestigious annual Hult Prize, which recognises innovative social enterprises that address the “world’s most pressing issues.”

With their new enterprise – Eco-Bana – the team, consisting of Lennox Omondi, Keylie Muthoni, Brian Ndung’u, Shiltone Dullah, and Emmanuel Tony, all aged 20 to 23, says it can end the region’s period poverty and plastic sanitary pad pollution, and help reduce youth unemployment.

Their business model is to make biodegradable sanitary pads from banana fibres, which are often discarded as farmers have no use for them, making their costs cheap, allowing them to avail their products in the market at affordable prices.

Mr Omondi, who is the organisation’s chief executive, told The EastAfrican that their main goal is to ensure as many girls as possible can afford sanitary pads while at the same time ending decades-long problem of pollution caused by polyvinyl chloride (PVC) – the plastic used to make most pads currently.

“Many leaders in the charity space often say charity itself is not enough. That’s why we thought of making affordable sanitary towels to enable people buy them for themselves, so they don’t have to rely on charity,” he said.

Mr Omondi came up with the idea after ages of brain racking sessions in a bid to solve any of the world’s endless adversities, especially relating to menstrual health, as he’d been a champion of the same since graduating from high school.

“I first thought of making re-usable pads, but then I felt that would be too demeaning to a person’s dignity and water is also scarce in Kenya,” he recounts, “then it struck me that cheap biodegradable pads could solve two serious problems: period poverty and pollution.”

Period poverty, the inability to afford menstrual products, is a widespread challenge in the region. The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) estimates that about 65 percent of women in Kenya and 85 percent in Tanzania cannot afford hygienic sanitary products.

In Uganda, about a quarter of girls aged 12 – 18 drop out of school once they begin menstruating, a consequence of period poverty. In Rwanda, 18 percent of women and girls are estimated to miss school and work because of periods.

This was the main inspiration for the students to build this enterprise. In fact, Keylie, who is their chief operations officer, had to drop out of school for some time because her family couldn’t afford sanitary towels.

Another problem associated with the existing pads is their plastic pollution. They are about 90 percent plastic and a single pack of sanitary towels is estimated to be equivalent to up to four plastic bags.

And now, with a $1 million capital, Eco-Bana is set to be the world’s first manufacturer of biodegradable pads which will retail at nearly half the average price ordinary pads cost in the market currently, with just as good comfort and quality.

Dullah, Eco-Bana’s chief financial officer, told The EastAfrican that they already have a well-defined plan on how they will utilise the capital to build a multi-million-dollar social enterprise that employs more than 2,000 people in the next two years.

Their first step is to construct a manufacturing plant, which he says will either be in Kisii, western Kenya, or Meru, central Kenya, the country’s leading producers of banana.

They also plan to embark on a massive environmental campaign to sensitize people in the country on the need to use and benefits of shifting to the biodegradable sanitary products in the face of climate change and rising pollution.

“We know we are venturing into a market which already has several players and not so many people are aware of plastic pollution problem. So as much as our pads will be cheaper, informing people about their environmental benefit will be crucial,” Mr Dullah said.

As they are gearing up to set up the company that they believe will help many African girls realise their dreams, they aren’t ignorant of the uphill task that lies ahead of them and are well prepared for it.

“Since the inception of this idea last year, we have faced multiple challenges from raising funds for building our prototypes to getting the requisite skills to build a standard product, but we’ve navigated all of them and soared through,” said Mr Omondi.

“We are all young, but I’m certain we have the skills we need to effectively manage this company into a successful enterprise.”

Within the next two years, they are confident they will be among the country’s leading employer and will have their product across the East African region, if not the entire continent. Their ultimate goal is to avail their product across the globe.