Many African girls miss school during their period, which can be the first step that leads to dropping out of school altogether. Education, however, is vital to development: educated girls get fewer children, later; and they spend the money they earn on health, education and nutrition for their families. Sanitary pads exist, but they are costly. Instead, many girls revert to putting rags in their undies during their period. And when sanitary pads are thrown into pit toilets, they clog up the system. Our product makes absorbent pads from papyrus and recycled paper. It can be manufactured locally, sterilised via the sun’s UV light, and sold cheaply. It doesn’t clog up pit latrines as much as ordinary pads, and empowers girls to go to school all year round.
MakaPads
The MakaPads are an about 10-year old technological invention of Dr Moses Kizza Musaazi in Kampala, Uganda. The annual production reached 4 million pads in Uganda in 2016, after the death of the innovator the production sunk to a 1000 pads with no revenues or sales. Of the former 200 trained laborers have remained only 8. 80% of Ugandan women and girls are still using simple clothes during the menstrual stresses, missing schools and income opportunities.
The Challenge
In wide parts of Uganda, the average income of the population is less than $1,25 dollar per day. A packet of normal sanitary pads costs twice as much – a luxury that only very few women can afford. What applies for Uganda, applies to females in many other developing and emerging countries. Usually, women substitute sanitary pads with simple cloth rags, waste paper or banana leaves. Not only is this largely ineffective, the hygiene is also questionable. Such solutions constitute risks for women’s health. Due to a sense of shame, many young girls no longer go to school with the onset of puberty and women are no longer seen in public.
The Solution
MakaPads are sanitary pads made from papyrus and paper waste. The naturally absorbent material has a high capacity (one pad can be used for 8 to 10 hours). MakaPads can be produced locally: dried and pulverised papyrus fibres are processed into a thick paste with paper and water. This is dried in the sun, smoothed, pressed and cut to size into absorbent inserts with mechanically operated machines. The pads are sealed in packs and then exposed to ultraviolet light to kill off all bacteria or germs. Because the sanitary napkins are made of natural material and do not contain any chemical additives, they are to a large extent biodegradable and do not cause any intolerances. The mostly manual production process needs very little electrical energy and can be generated via solar panels of total wattage 350 W.
The Joint Venture
Impacc gGmbH and Ugandan social enterprise Technology for Tomorrow (T4T) have agreed to build the joint venture “MakaPads Impacc Limited” with the objective to scale-up production and sales of MakaPads in Uganda amongst women without access to hygienic sanitary products. The innovative partnership brings together the strength of both partners: T4T will contribute the MakaPads technology as well as the first production facility in Kampala. IMPACC will contribute its competence in business modelling (positioning, branding, pricing, marketing, sales pitch, etc.), growth planning and fundraising for private and public donors.
The Social Business Model
In the past, the MakaPads business model was to sell pads in bulk to NGOs who would give them away for free in their projects. The model collapsed, however, because it depended largely on one donor who broke away due to a change in strategy. The new model is to sell packs of 10 pads on the open market for a competitive price of 1,500-2,000 Uganda Shillings (0,37-0,50€) vs current price of 2,500 Shillings. With cost savings of 0,02€/pad (of which half have already been identified through process simplification), the business has the potential to generate a gross margin of ca. 30%, and thus finance expansion of the model. One franchise unit (catering to ca. 10,000 women) needs 10k€ in up-front investment as a grant, after which it can operate independently.
The Social Mission
Most children in Uganda, especially in rural areas, do not receive any sexual education. Girls are caught completely unawares of their first period. This makes them vulnerable in several ways: They are made fun of at school when they experience leakage during their period or even worse: sexual predators take advantage of their ignorance, promising them relief from their periods if they have sex with them - failing to mention that the reason for this would be a pregnancy.
MakaPads therefor offers menstrual hygiene management courses to schools, religious communities and other potential positive influencers in order to teach both girls and boys, as well as their family and social network to demystify and destigmatize the period. They insist on including boys and men to prevent girls from being teased or worse because of the menstruation. Extending awareness of female hygiene to their wider families, on the other hand, ensures that the need for sanitary pads is understood and considered in the family budget.
The Challenge
In wide parts of Uganda, the average income of the population is less than $1,25 dollar per day. A packet of normal sanitary pads costs twice as much – a luxury that only very few women can afford. What applies for Uganda, applies to females in many other developing and emerging countries. Usually, women substitute sanitary pads with simple cloth rags, waste paper or banana leaves. Not only is this largely ineffective, the hygiene is also questionable. Such solutions constitute risks for women’s health. Due to a sense of shame, many young girls no longer go to school with the onset of puberty and women are no longer seen in public.
The Solution
MakaPads are sanitary pads made from papyrus and paper waste. The naturally absorbent material has a high capacity (one pad can be used for 8 to 10 hours). MakaPads can be produced locally: dried and pulverised papyrus fibres are processed into a thick paste with paper and water. This is dried in the sun, smoothed, pressed and cut to size into absorbent inserts with mechanically operated machines. The pads are sealed in packs and then exposed to ultraviolet light to kill off all bacteria or germs. Because the sanitary napkins are made of natural material and do not contain any chemical additives, they are to a large extent biodegradable and do not cause any intolerances. The mostly manual production process needs very little electrical energy and can be generated via solar panels of total wattage 350 W.
The Joint Venture
Impacc gGmbH and Ugandan social enterprise Technology for Tomorrow (T4T) have agreed to build the joint venture “MakaPads Impacc Limited” with the objective to scale-up production and sales of MakaPads in Uganda amongst women without access to hygienic sanitary products. The innovative partnership brings together the strength of both partners: T4T will contribute the MakaPads technology as well as the first production facility in Kampala. IMPACC will contribute its competence in business modelling (positioning, branding, pricing, marketing, sales pitch, etc.), growth planning and fundraising for private and public donors.
The Social Business Model
In the past, the MakaPads business model was to sell pads in bulk to NGOs who would give them away for free in their projects. The model collapsed, however, because it depended largely on one donor who broke away due to a change in strategy. The new model is to sell packs of 10 pads on the open market for a competitive price of 1,500-2,000 Uganda Shillings (0,37-0,50€) vs current price of 2,500 Shillings. With cost savings of 0,02€/pad (of which half have already been identified through process simplification), the business has the potential to generate a gross margin of ca. 30%, and thus finance expansion of the model. One franchise unit (catering to ca. 10,000 women) needs 10k€ in up-front investment as a grant, after which it can operate independently.
The Social Mission
Most children in Uganda, especially in rural areas, do not receive any sexual education. Girls are caught completely unawares of their first period. This makes them vulnerable in several ways: They are made fun of at school when they experience leakage during their period or even worse: sexual predators take advantage of their ignorance, promising them relief from their periods if they have sex with them - failing to mention that the reason for this would be a pregnancy.
MakaPads therefor offers menstrual hygiene management courses to schools, religious communities and other potential positive influencers in order to teach both girls and boys, as well as their family and social network to demystify and destigmatize the period. They insist on including boys and men to prevent girls from being teased or worse because of the menstruation. Extending awareness of female hygiene to their wider families, on the other hand, ensures that the need for sanitary pads is understood and considered in the family budget.