Period poverty remains one of the significant issues in Nigeria, affecting millions of women and girls. Many young women, especially those in rural areas, struggle to afford sanitary pads due to the rising cost of living and limited access to menstrual hygiene products. The price of a packet of pads has increased from 250 naira to about 1,200 naira( which is approximately less than, making them unaffordable for women who survive on less than a dollar a day. The inability to manage menstruation often causes girls to miss school during their periods, while some turn to unhygienic alternatives like rags, tissue paper, or old clothing. According to Ajari et al. (2021), inadequate menstrual hygiene contributes to reproductive tract infections, feelings of shame, and absenteeism among adolescent girls. Period poverty is not just a health issue; it is also a major gender and economic problem that deepens inequality and perpetuates discrimination.
This approach also aligns with decolonial feminist perspectives, which emphasize the importance of community epistemologies and the need to challenge Western-centric models of development (Ramirez, Vélez-Zapata, & Maher, 2023). Similar to the Wayúu women of Colombia who resist “green colonialism” by grounding their activism in indigenous cosmologies, Nigerian women like Odey are reclaiming bodily autonomy through culturally grounded practices of health education and production. Her method of teaching, which is often under a baobab tree where women gather to share stories, echoes what Lanza 2012) describes as Buen Vivir, or “living well,” an alternative feminist framework that values reciprocity, ecological balance, and community wellbeing over profit-driven growth. Such feminist reimagining of development transform menstruation from a site of silence and shame into one of solidarity and empowerment.
References
Ajari, E., Abass, T.,
Ilesanmi, E., & Adebisi, Y. (2021). Cost Implications of Menstrual
Hygiene Management in Nigeria and Its Associated Impacts. Medicine &
Pharmacology. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202105.0349.v1
Chant, S. (2016).
Galvanizing girls for development? Critiquing the shift from ‘smart’ to
‘smarter economics.’ Progress in Development Studies, 16(4),
314–328. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464993416657209
Ramirez, J., Vélez-Zapata, C. P., & Maher, R. (2024).
Green colonialism and decolonial feminism: A study of Wayúu women’s resistance
in La Guajira. Human Relations, 77(7), 937–964. https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267231189610
Powerful piece, love how you integrate Chant’s “smarter economics,” decolonial feminism, and Buen Vivir to center women’s agency rather than charity. The EduPad Yala example beautifully shows knowledge, dignity, and solidarity in action. In Bangladesh, I see similar community-driven moves. Ella Pad trains garment workers to turn factory off-cuts into reusable pads, creating women entrepreneurs while tackling affordability and waste. BRAC’s WASH-in-Schools has paired MHM education with girls’ toilets and disposal facilities at scale, showing how infrastructure, combined with teaching, reduces stigma and absenteeism. On the policy side, Bangladesh temporarily removed VAT on raw materials for pads (2019–2021), but retail prices barely fell, evidence that tax tweaks alone aren’t enough without local production and distribution fixes. New micro-entrepreneurs are also emerging, selling low-cost pads in rural markets, often outpacing local demand.
ReplyDeleteReference:
https://unitar.org/about/news-stories/stories/ella-pad-innovative-solution-waste-reuse-make-low-cost-sanitary-napkin-garments-workers-bangladesh?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://blog.brac.net/breaking-the-taboo-managing-menstrual-hygiene-at-school/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/addressing-menstrual-health-in-bangladesh/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2025/05/22/women-entrepreneurs-lead-on-menstrual-health-in-bangladesh?utm_source=chatgpt.com
As a man raised in a conservative family and society, I had little awareness of the importance of menstrual hygiene products for women until after my marriage. Now, I find myself responsible for purchasing sanitary pads for my wife and two teenage daughters. Despite having a salary from a first-class government job, affording pads for three people every month is challenging. This experience has made me interested in your term “period poverty.”
DeleteI firmly believe that sanitary pads are a basic necessity for women, and they should be provided either free of cost or at a heavily subsidized price. In Bangladesh, where many people live below the poverty line and struggle to secure enough food, sanitary pads are considered a luxury for many families. The inability to afford menstrual hygiene products often leads women and girls to resort to unhygienic alternatives, such as rags or old clothing, which can result in health problems.
I appreciate the idea of producing reusable menstrual pads from locally sourced materials in Nigeria, leveraging local knowledge. I've seen similar community-driven initiatives in Bangladesh, but unfortunately, these efforts are insufficient for the large population and need to be scaled up significantly. The discussions about empowerment, equity, and dignity hold no value unless we ensure that basic necessities, such as sanitary pads, are accessible to all women.
As a man raised in a conservative family and society, I had little awareness of the importance of menstrual hygiene products for women until after my marriage. Now, I find myself responsible for purchasing sanitary pads for my wife and two teenage daughters. Despite having a salary from a first-class government job, affording pads for three people every month is challenging. This experience has made me interested in your term “period poverty.”
ReplyDeleteI firmly believe that sanitary pads are a basic necessity for women, and they should be provided either free of cost or at a heavily subsidized price. In Bangladesh, where many people live below the poverty line and struggle to secure enough food, sanitary pads are considered a luxury for many families. The inability to afford menstrual hygiene products often leads women and girls to resort to unhygienic alternatives, such as rags or old clothing, which can result in health problems.
I appreciate the idea of producing reusable menstrual pads from locally sourced materials in Nigeria, leveraging local knowledge. I've seen similar community-driven initiatives in Bangladesh, but unfortunately, these efforts are insufficient for the large population and need to be scaled up significantly. The discussions about empowerment, equity, and dignity hold no value unless we ensure that basic necessities, such as sanitary pads, are accessible to all women.
The struggle against period poverty in Nigeria reveals the tensions between different paradigms of development, particularly the contrast between smart economics approaches and feminist, community-driven models (more aligned with GAD) like EduPad Yala. In "smart economics," as Sylvia Chant (2016) critiques, women are often positioned primarily as instruments of national growth: investing in their health or education is therefore “smart” because it increases productivity and efficiency. If this logic were applied to period poverty, the focus would more likely be on how menstrual hygiene products enable girls to attend school more consistently or how reducing absenteeism increases human capital and GDP. While such outcomes are arguably valuable, they frame women’s wellbeing as a means to an economic end rather than as an end in itself.
ReplyDeleteBy contrast, the EduPad Yala initiative you discuss embodies what Chant calls “smarter economics." This approach values women’s agency, dignity, and community knowledge over purely efficiency-based metrics for development. Training women to produce reusable pads locally not only addresses the material issue of affordability but also reclaims menstrual health as a part of collective empowerment. Here, development is not something "done to/for" women but "created by" them. This reorientation from productivity to participation aligns with GAD, which focuses on transforming unequal gender relations rather than simply integrating women into existing economic structures.
I also see Spivak in this. This community-led project, created and taught by local women for local women, helps create a space where the subaltern can speak and be heard, where they are not subject to the Global North's "smart economics" approach viewing issues only through the lens of efficiency. Instead, the project has been created in a space where local gender needs can be considered, and the beginnings of structural change and empowerment (GAD) can take place.
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ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing such a powerful and insightful analysis. I found it especially interesting how the post connects the fight against menstrual poverty in Nigeria with feminist frameworks that center women’s agency and their capacity to organize community-based solutions. It also prompts me to consider how we might classify this struggle: Is it about practical gender needs or strategic gender needs? On one hand, access to sanitary pads and menstrual products clearly responds to an immediate, practical need: women and girls require basic resources to protect their health, attend school, and prevent infections. However, at the same time, it can also be understood as a strategic gender need, because it directly challenges the normalization of silence and the stigma around menstruation, and seeks to transform the structures of inequality that turn something so fundamental into a privilege rather than a right.
ReplyDeleteI think opening this debate matters because we see the same issue in other crisis contexts, such as Gaza, where many girls and women also lack access to menstrual products. In these situations, menstruation becomes a double vulnerability: being a woman in the midst of war, and lacking the basic resources to manage one’s own body. This reinforces the idea that menstrual poverty is not only a hygiene issue, but a matter of gender justice and human rights.
Additionally, after discussing Men and Masculinities in class this week, I wonder whether the dimension of masculinity also plays a role here. Menstrual stigma has historically been shaped by patriarchal norms. So how do we involve men in breaking the taboo and recognizing that menstruation should not be treated as something hidden or shameful, but as a normal and basic part of life? If masculinities continue to reproduce stigma, it will be difficult to move toward real change. Ignoring men in this issue leaves them in the comfort of silence, and silence is precisely what makes menstruation “embarrassing” or “uncomfortable.” For this reason, I believe it is essential to open a dialogue where everyone understands that access to menstrual products is not only a practical need, but also a step toward strategic equality.
Hi Peace,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing such an inspiring story about an initiative addressing the issue of sanitary pads in Nigeria. There are two main points I really appreciate about this initiative.
First, they train rural women to produce reusable menstrual pads using locally available materials such as cotton, fabric, and thread. Instead of waiting for aid to buy or receive free menstrual products from NGOs, they empower women to help themselves. This approach is far more sustainable because it reduces dependence on external support. Menstrual products are needed monthly and over many years, so by learning to make them independently, women no longer have to worry about aid being discontinued one day. The use of locally sourced materials also demonstrates a deep understanding of local knowledge and its application to create a solution tailored to the community, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
Moreover, this initiative helps strengthen women’s self-esteem. They become their own heroes, not passive recipients of help. The initiative combines both a need-based and a strategic approach—addressing immediate needs while empowering women to gain confidence and agency. It views them not as victims or “passive Third World women,” but as capable individuals who can take control of their own lives.
Second, the training takes place under a baobab tree—a familiar and comfortable space where women often gather to share stories. This setting reflects a deep understanding of the community and its culture. It creates an environment where women can easily connect, learn, and support one another—no saviors or receivers, just sisters helping each other.