“Kenya borders an ocean with seaweed often treated as waste,” says innovator Kennedy Mulungu, “But they can be converted into biodegradable and affordable sanitary pads and wound dressings.”
In many African countries, a simple sanitary pad remains out of reach for millions of women and girls. High costs, limited access, environmental pollution and growing concerns over chemical safety continue to define the menstrual health crisis across the continent.
In Kenya alone, UNICEF estimates there are about 9.3 million women and girls of reproductive age, yet nearly 65 per cent cannot consistently afford sanitary pads. Many resort to unsafe alternatives such as old cloth, tissue paper and mattress pieces.
UNESCO estimates that one in every 10 girls across sub-Saharan Africa misses school during menstruation, while Kenya’s Ministry of Education calculates that a girl who misses four school days every month loses roughly 39 learning days annually, equivalent to nearly six weeks of learning time. Beyond education, conventional plastic-based sanitary pads take between 500 and 800 years to decompose, adding a mounting environmental toll to an already serious public health challenge.
The cost of inaction also shows up in national economies. Many African countries spend significant amounts of foreign exchange importing menstrual products despite having local raw materials that could support domestic manufacturing.
For Kennedy Mulungu, a Malawian innovator and entrepreneur based in South Africa, the answer to period poverty, chemical safety and environmental harm may lie in the ocean. He is developing biodegradable sanitary pads and wound dressings made from alginate, a natural polymer extracted from seaweed, designed for local manufacturing across Africa.
What motivated me was the challenge of affordability and access to sanitary health products in Africa
Affordable, environmentally friendly and scalable, the innovation could allow countries to reduce import dependency while creating jobs and strengthening local health manufacturing ecosystems.
Mulungu is a fellow under the Leadership for Innovation and Excellence in Accelerating Research on Women’s Health (LEA-WH) Fellowship Programme, run by the National Academy of Medicine in partnership with the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). Through his startup initiatives BioAgix and Wonder Group Limited, he is working to bring the product to market.
“When a woman suffers, the economy suffers,” he said. “What motivated me was seeing the challenge of affordability and access to sanitary health products, especially in Africa. We lose a lot of foreign exchange due to imports of these products.”
At the heart of the innovation is alginate, which differs fundamentally from the synthetics used in conventional pads. Unlike plastic-based products, alginate pads are designed to biodegrade naturally and enrich soil after disposal. “Biodegradable pads are products which can degrade into the soil and become nutrients. They do not harm the environment or become waste, but rather add value to the environment,” Mulungu explained.
What makes alginate particularly well-suited to this application is its absorbency. Mulungu says the material can absorb nearly 100 times its own size and weight, making it effective for both menstrual products and wound care. It is also FDA-approved and naturally derived.
Seaweed is available along African coastlines creating a further case for local production
“Alginate is a polymer extracted from the natural biomass of seaweed. The reason we are using alginate is that it is safe, naturally derived and already approved by the FDA,” he said.
Its availability along African coastlines creates a further case for local production. Both South Africa and Kenya have coastlines with abundant seaweed, a resource that is largely treated as waste. “In South Africa, we have oceans; in Kenya, we have oceans with a lot of seaweed,” Mulungu said. “Seaweed is often treated as waste, so we are trying to convert that waste into something valuable.”
The project also has a dual-purpose dimension that sets it apart. The same absorbent properties that make alginate effective in wound care, where it is already used in hospitals to absorb wound exudate while maintaining a moist healing environment, also make it ideal for menstrual hygiene products.
“Alginate has already been used in wound care settings,” he explained. “It is an absorbent polymer, and sanitary pads also require absorbent materials. That is why the dual-purpose works.”
The innovation also responds to growing safety concerns around conventional menstrual products. Mulungu referenced research by the University of the Free State in South Africa, which reportedly found endocrine-disrupting chemicals in 16 sanitary pad brands and eight pantyliner brands currently on the market. He says these chemicals may pose risks linked to infertility and cancer, a concern that also emerged directly from women during the product’s design phase.
“The majority of available sanitary products contain endocrine-inducing chemicals,” he said. “Even the women we engaged during the design process raised concerns around irritation and safety.”
One of the biggest issues raised was irritation from available pads and concerns about safety
Women’s feedback shaped the early prototype. Issues of irritation, comfort and safety informed development before large-scale user testing had begun. “We included insights from women during the design stage. One of the biggest issues raised was irritation from available pads and concerns about safety,” he noted.
Mulungu argues that his product occupies a gap that existing alternatives have not filled. Many biodegradable pads on the global market are positioned as organic products but do not integrate advanced women-centred technology, often referred to as FemTech. Others focus on technological innovation without addressing environmental sustainability.
“We are blending biodegradable technology and FemTech together into one product that is affordable and safe,” he explained.
The path from prototype to commercial product, however, remains demanding. Mulungu acknowledges that moving from concept to a functional minimum viable product required far more than he initially anticipated.
“At first, I thought moving from an idea to a physical product would be easy,” he said. “But it required a lot of execution plans, engagement with mentors and understanding of absorbency and women’s health needs.”
Regulatory approval presents another significant hurdle. The product must undergo testing and validation to meet health and safety standards before any large-scale rollout within African markets.
The biodegradable pads could reduce environmental waste, lower menstrual product costs, strengthen local manufacturing
“We are still navigating regulatory pathways so that the product can be validated within the African ecosystem,” he said.
Kenya’s growing positioning as a regional hub for health innovation and local manufacturing provides a supportive backdrop for these efforts. With the country pushing for stronger pharmaceutical and medical manufacturing capacity under broader health reforms, innovations like Mulungu’s align with wider continental conversations around self-reliance in healthcare products.
If successful, the biodegradable alginate pads could reduce environmental waste, lower menstrual product costs and strengthen local manufacturing industries across Malawi, Kenya and South Africa. For millions of women and girls who still struggle to access safe and affordable menstrual products, such an innovation could ultimately mean far more than convenience. It could mean dignity, health, school attendance, economic participation and a cleaner environment.
