Nigerian teen develops biodegradable sanitary pads from farm waste and earns global recognition

15-year-old Nigerian student Raheema Auwal-Panti is attracting international attention for an innovation that tackles two major challenges at once, plastic pollution and menstrual-product accessibility. The founder of PantiPads, a biodegradable sanitary-pad initiative launched in 2025, has developed menstrual products made from agricultural waste materials that would otherwise be discarded.