- Nigerian teenager Raheema Auwal-Panti founded ‘Pantipads’ to tackle the problem of access to sanitary products and the prevalence of non-eco-friendly sanitary pads.
- She designed pads that use low-grade agriculture waste that decomposes easily.
- Auwal-Panti’s project was selected in a shortlist of 35 global teams for the 2026 Earth Prize, instituted by the Earth Foundation, a Switzerland-based non-profit that empowers, educates and inspires young people to tackle environmental challenges.
For many Nigerian women, access to sanitary pads remains a challenge. Even those who can obtain them, the prevalence of single-use menstrual products creates problems of its own. They contain plastics and chemicals and are not eco-friendly generating large amounts of waste.
After learning that many traditional sanitary pads used contain up to 90% plastic and can take hundreds of years to decompose, Nigerian teenager Raheema Auwal-Panti saw an opportunity to support women while helping the environment. The 15-year-old decided to use low-grade agricultural waste to make sanitary pads.
She was motivated by a desire “to sweep up plastic pollution” in Nigeria. “[Even] if no one does something about it, I could do something about it,” said Auwal-Panti, who hails from Minna, the capital of Niger state in Nigeria. She founded ‘PantiPads’ in 2025.
Auwal-Panti’s project was selected in a shortlist of 35 global teams for the 2026 Earth Prize, organized by the Earth Foundation, a Switzerland-based nonprofit that empowers, educates and inspires young people to tackle environmental challenges.
In northern Nigeria, cassava processing generates significant agricultural waste, which poses environmental risks, particularly to soil quality. The waste includes solid and liquid components, such as cassava peelings, dried with non-dried banana leaves and corn husks. The biomass-rich waste, if poorly managed, can lead to environmental degradation, including organic pollution of water bodies and soil contamination.
“Using these wastes to develop eco-friendly pads is currently helping to address menstrual stigma which remains a significant public health challenge that affects girls’ education and overall well-being in Africa,” she said.
“The current options aren’t very safe; the pad is [used] for some of the most sensitive parts of the human body. People have a very safe option [in] eco-friendly sanitary pads,” Auwal-Panti said.
“The long-term goal is to establish a local production space for the pads,” Auwal-Panti said. “However, at this stage, we are focusing on building relationships with existing manufacturers, understanding operational requirements, and learning the production system properly before expanding into our own setup.”
PantiPads is now working to bring the products directly to consumers, with support from members of the business community and others. It is part of an ongoing campaign to sensitize people that biodegradable pads offer a sustainable alternative to existing pads.
“African governments have a very key role to play in formulating policy shifts to transition from plastic pads to biodegradable sanitary products,” Auwal-Panti said.
A team of Kenyan students who developed a low-cost vehicle exhaust filter was selected from the Africa region for the final round of the Earth Prize. Public voting for the global edition of the award closed May 27 and the winner is expected to be announced on May 29.
Banner Image: Raheema Auwal-Panti, a 15-year-old from Nigeria is helping turn low-grade agricultural waste into eco-friendly sanitary pads. Image courtesy of Raheema Auwal-Panti.
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