Business

Problem

Agricultural value chains remain largely linear: value is not extracted from waste, and nutrients are not returned to the soil. Banana and plantain farming in Ghana generates significant biomass waste that is discarded or left to rot, ignoring a potential income stream for smallholder farmers while degrading the environment. At the same time, many girls and women in low-income communities cannot afford sanitary pads, driving school absenteeism and health risks in a market dominated by imported plastic products priced beyond rural reach. These challenges are interconnected, as the same waste farmers dispose holds the raw material to enable both soil health and sustainable period product access.

Solution

Kodu Technology sources low-cost banana and plantain fibres from smallholder farmers and processes them into affordable, locally-made sanitary pads in their FDA certified facility. Residual biomass from production is converted into compost and returned to farming communities through a credit system, improving soil health and retaining them as reliable suppliers. Revenue flows in from small retailers, schools and NGOs, complimented by a onefor-ten donation model that extends access to the most rural and vulnerable women. Kodu pads can hold three to four times their weight, are naturally antimicrobial, and are gentle on skin, while being 60% cheaper than plastic imports, making them accessible to the whole market.

Impact

Kodu Technology converts crop residue that would otherwise be treated as agricultural waste into locallyproduced, biodegradable sanitary pads, creating an additional income stream for farmers, reducing farm waste management emissions, and avoiding plastic waste from conventional products. Its pads decompose in approximately six to eight months, compared with up to 500 years for plastic-based alternatives, providing a low-impact, scalable solution that addresses both period poverty and environmental challenges. Agricultural residue not used in pad production is returned to supplier farmers as compost and organic fertilizer, helping to improve soil health while reducing reliance on increasingly costly synthetic fertilizers.