Who We Are
Sparśa is a women-led social enterprise in Nepal that produces compostable menstrual pads made from banana fiber extracted from the banana plant, a major agricultural waste from banana farming. By transforming this locally abundant waste into a sustainable menstrual product, Sparśa addresses both period poverty and environmental degradation. The revenue generated is reinvested into the enterprise to sustain production and operations, while all profits are directed toward education and advocacy programs focused on menstrual health and women’s rights. In addition to product innovation, Sparśa creates green job opportunities for women from marginalized communities by providing skills training and dignified employment, supporting their economic independence and leadership. Sparśa also follows a circular economy approach. Waste generated during production is converted into compost and returned to local farmers, closing the loop between agriculture, manufacturing, and environmental regeneration. Through this integrated model, Sparśa combines menstrual equity, women’s empowerment, and climate action to create long-term, community-driven impact.
Our Mission
Our mission is to advance menstrual equity by producing biodegradable menstrual products, creating dignified livelihoods for women, and building community-led awareness and advocacy around menstruation and reproductive health.
Our Vision
We envision a future where menstruation is free from stigma, every person has access to safe and sustainable menstrual care, and women and young people are empowered to lead change in their communities without compromising environmental well-being.
Our Origin Story
Sparśa began with a simple question: How can we make menstrual care more accessible without creating more waste?
In Nepal, menstruation is still shaped by stigma, unequal access to information, and the high cost of safe menstrual products. At the same time, most disposable pads are made with plastic that remains in the environment for hundreds of years. We believed these were not separate problems—they were deeply connected.
The idea for Sparśa first emerged within NIDISI, a Germany- and Nepal-based non-profit that develops sustainable solutions to social and environmental challenges. Inspired by an idea from Fabien Matthias, co-founder of NIDISI gGmbH, to transform banana trunk fibre into biodegradable menstrual pads, a small group of colleagues and friends began exploring whether agricultural waste could become a sustainable alternative for menstrual care. What started as conversations, research, and experimentation gradually grew into a shared vision.
In those early years, Sparśa was entirely volunteer-led. Many people contributed their time, ideas, and energy while balancing their studies and careers. As the project evolved, Dipisha Bhujel and Florian Didier continued developing the concept and laying the foundations for what Sparśa could become. Over time, they were joined by Md. Hasnain Ansari, Thelma Divry, Aleksandra Todorovic, Łukasz Urbaniak, and many others who helped shape the organization during its formative years.
What brought the team together was a combination of different perspectives. Dipisha’s lived experience growing up in the mountains of Nepal, where menstruation was often surrounded by silence and restrictions, continues to shape Sparśa’s mission and community-centred approach. Florian contributed expertise in biomaterials engineering and paper production. Hasnain brought financial, legal, and operational leadership rooted in community engagement, while Łukasz strengthened the organisation’s research, communications, and fundraising efforts.
In November 2022, Sparśa was registered as an independent social enterprise in Nepal. Today, it is led by Dipisha Bhujel and Md. Hasnain Ansari alongside a growing team of engineers, factory supervisors, operators, educators, and board members working with communities in Bharatpur, the banana farming communities of Susta, and beyond.
While our work has grown, our purpose remains the same: to make menstruation safer, more dignified, and more sustainable while creating opportunities for women and reducing environmental waste. Every compostable pad we produce is part of a larger vision—one where menstrual equity, women’s livelihoods, and climate action strengthen one another.
Sparśa would not exist without the generosity and commitment of the many people who believed in this idea from the beginning. We remain deeply grateful to everyone who contributed their time, knowledge, and care during our journey, especially Antonia Consbruch, Ashmita Poudel, Justine Bourg, Aleksandra Todorovic, Florian Didier, Łukasz Urbaniak, Sobita Gautam, Sudha Dhakal, Deepa Poudel, Aanan Ghimire, and many others who helped bring Sparśa to life.