Project Details and Budget to implement a sanitary pad production unit in Khayelitsha Township in Cape Town, South Africa.
-Towards a biodegradable and affordable sanitary pad
WEpads: Women empowerment through health and sanitation. Through sales, jobs, independence (financially & limits through period)
Background
WEpads addresses the problem of “Period Poverty”. Period Poverty describes the lack of access to sanitary products, menstrual hygiene education, toilets, hand washing facilities, and waste management. According to the UN, this leads to approximately 63 million schoolgirls worldwide who are missing parts of school education. In South Africa the number is as high as 1/3 of schoolgirls who miss school during their period (Global Citizen). Instead of feminine hygiene articles, those affected sometimes resort to old cloths or newspaper. As the WHO repeatedly emphasizes, hygienic conditions are essential to protect human health during and from outbreaks of infectious diseases.
In 2018, students from Wuppertal University and MIGS Consulting in South Africa decided to collaborate in researching and finding a solution to Period Poverty. The students formed a project called WEpads. After research, exchange and an exploratory trip to India, they found out that there is an inventor in India who has developed a solution for this problem (Arunachalam Muruganatham). He has developed affordable and easy-to-use machines that can be used to produce low-priced sanitary pads by women from the township. Together with the well-established non-profit organization Iliso Care Society, it was decided to set up a pilot project in Khayelitsha Township in Cape Town, South Africa. In this pilot project, the transferability of the production method to South Africa will be tested and then rolled out to other townships.
Project Idea & Activities
Wepads stands for strengthening the independence of women in Africa. The vision of WEpads is to fight Period Poverty in Africa by promoting education about menstruation and hygiene and by offering affordable biodegradable sanitary pads. We want to ensure equal opportunities and participation in school education. In addition, we want to create jobs for disadvantaged women by setting up production facilities and training them in production and distribution. In this way we want to provide opportunities to be financially independent. Our sanitary pads will offer girls more independence and equal opportunities.
Through our products, they can once again participate in daily life without restrictions and no longer have to be ashamed of their periods. In the long term, they receive a better school education and have greater chances of living financially independently. Since our sanitary pads also offer a sustainable alternative to conventional hygiene products for women, we also have a positive ecological effect.
The financially self-sustaining model has been tested many times in India. In self-sufficient production facilities in the township, women should be able to produce sanitary pads independently and be able to sell them at low cost to the people in need. In the context of Covid-19, the project is an opportunity to create meaningful jobs while improving feminine hygiene and creating long-term environmental value.
Impact & Outcomes
Objective 1: Provide low-cost sanitary pads
We will produce sanitary pads that are affordable for the base of the economic pyramid within six months of commencement of project
Objective 2: Provide menstrual health education
We will provide menstrual health education to 30 schools in the Khayelitsha Township in three months of commencement of project
Objective 3: Provide sustainable job opportunities to women in the township
Thirty women in the Khayelitsha Township will be provided business training as retailers of sanitary pads. We will implement the project in a way that creates local employment and local businesses for women in the township within six months of commencement of project
Objective 4: Provide an eco-friendly product
We will create a sanitary pad that is the most biodegradable in the South African market
Targets
Direct Beneficiaries:
1. Technical person trained in maintaining and operating the machine
2. Women in the township trained to operate the machine
3. Women in the township trained as door to door retailers of the sanitary pads
4. Girl students in schools who will not miss school due to the availability of the pads
5. Girls / Women in the township who will be provided with period education
6. Women in the township who will be healthier
Indirect Beneficiaries:
1. Relief of local clinic as number of ill women will be less
2. Local schools as girl children do not miss school
3. Family members who will be better cared for as the woman of the house will be healthier
Direct and indirect beneficiaries in numbers
Direct: Estimated 200 187 female inhabitants of Khayelitsha Township
Indirect: Estimated 191 562 people living in Khayelitsha Township
(The last official head count available from Statistics SA is from 2011. It is now estimated that +- 1.2 million people live in the township.)
Implementing Capacity
MIGS (Multiple Income Generating Strategies for Social Entrepreneurs) is a social enterprise that was established by Varkey George, a social entrepreneur, to implement, educate and support the implementation and scaling up of social enterprises in South Africa thus contribute in ameliorating social challenges.
He has many years of experience in working with the European Commission, having co-written and managed two Erasmus+ projects of 1 million Euros each. He is also a lecturer on Social Entrepreneurship in some business schools in Europe. MIGS will be responsible for strategic management and scaling up.
MIGS and Iliso Care Society will co-manage the project in South Africa and be joint signatories to a separate bank account that will be established under Iliso Care Society for this project. The collaboration will ensure transparency, and accountability.
Enactus Wuppertal e.V. is a student-centered non-profit organization based in Wuppertal, Germany that carries out research and implementation of projects of a socially and/or environmental nature. A variety of sustainable start-ups have emerged from Enactus Wuppertal. Together with the support of the University of Wuppertal, especially the start-up consultancy of the university, a wide range of competences are covered. These include business skills, marketing skills, start-up experience and engineering skills. Thereby the skills are covered to further develop the production method and machine and to implement an innovative and sustainable business model.
Enactus Wuppertal e.V., Iliso Care Society and MIGS have been collaborating in other projects and so there is a trust relationship already established. These three organisations have been collaborating in researching and trying to implement a project that produces a biodegradable sanitary pad and piloting it in Khayelitsha Township in South Africa. They have carried out preliminary research, imported samples from India and Egypt and collected data from users on product quality and have established contacts with producers of machines, trainers and raw material suppliers in India. The uniqueness of this three-way partnership is the passion to solve a social challenge which will ensure success.
Risk Analysis
| Risks | Mitigation strategies |
| Project might delay due to Covid-19 and resulting higher criminal rate | Market study, research and planning can be undertaken till free movement is allowed |
| The imported machine from India may need repairs/improvement | Either send a local person to India for training or transport expert from India to train a local person |
| Raw material may be too expensive to import | Research on whether raw material is available in South Africa or southern Africa |
| Women employed by the project to manufacture and distribute may not be proficient in business principles | Provide extensive training in basic business principles before project is implemented |
| Inability to keep the costs affordable | Draw up a business plan with detailed costing |
| 100% biodegradability of the project may not be achieved | Partner with technical experts in Europe to continuously develop the product for 100% biodegradability |
| Financial misappropriation | Ensure that the funds transferred to the local implementer is ring-fenced and continuously monitored and there are two organizations that co-sign for any withdrawals or payments |
| Security and safety of personnel, machines and stock in the township | Set up the production unit in the campus of another nonprofit that has security just outside the township |
Budget in Euros
| Type of cost | EUR |
| Purchase machine and peripheral equipment | 9 500 |
| Travel to India, Wuppertal and Cape Town to order machine, liaise with raw material suppliers, establish partnership and innovate the machine including cost of accommodation and daily allowance. 2 people X 1 trip to India; 2 people for staff exchange between Wuppertal and Cape Town | 4 600 |
| Transport machine (incl. Taxes) | 3 500 |
| Travel costs of 1 X machine installer and trainer from India to South Africa | 1 000 |
| Purchase 2 containers for machine (production plant) | 4 000 |
| Installation costs for machine and plant | 3 000 |
| Securing the plant | 1 000 |
| Maintenance costs machine (incl. Electricity) | 2 500 |
| Purchase of raw materials | 8 000 |
| Transport raw materials | 2 000 |
| Support materials | 1 200 |
| Salaries Employees in South Africa : 1 X Manager (Euro 500); 1 X Administrator ( Euro 400); 6 X Employees (Euro 300) pm for 10 months | 27 000 |
| Training costs of employees (ongoing support and training for 10 months) 600 X 10 months (MIGS) | 6 000 |
| Opening capital for 8 women to commence their retail trading business of pads X 300 | 2 400 |
| Creation and printing of educational materials (menstrual hygiene) | 5 000 |
| Marketing in South Africa (to establish the distribution channels) | 2 000 |
| Machine improvement (to increase efficiency of machine and therefore decrease costs per pad) | 10 000 |
| Administrative costs, stationery, accounting, auditing, bank charges (Iliso) | 6 000 |
| Contingency funds (sundry costs) | 1 000 |
| Total | 99 700 |