By Nita Bhalla
KITUI, Kenya, June 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Kenyan farmer Abel Mutie Mathoka thought it should be a joke when he was told he might water his drought-hit crops more cheaply, easily and efficiently utilizing a pump sustained by cotton waste.
"Who could believe it's possible to make a fuel much better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn't!" laughed Mathoka, crouching down to examine the watermelons on his 10-acre (four-hectare) shared plot in Ituri village in Kenya's southeast Kitui county.
"But it works," he said, walking over to a neighboring tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has assisted me get higher yields, specifically during dry spell periods."
Mathoka stated his revenues had doubled in the 2 years he has been pumping water using biodiesel, which is both more effective and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre cheaper than regular diesel.
The biodiesel he is utilizing is not just excellent news for him - it is likewise good news for the planet.
Unlike many biofuels, which are originated from crops such as maize, sugarcane, soybean, rapeseed and jatropha, it is made from a byproduct of the cotton-making process.
That means that along with being cleaner and cheaper than regular fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels because no additional land is needed to produce it.
From Brazil to Indonesia, the rush to cultivate biofuel crops has actually driven forest off their land and pressed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more lucrative crops-for-fuel - intensifying food scarcities.
"Our biodiesel comes from squashing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning - the procedure of separating the seeds from raw cotton," stated Taher Zavery, handling director of Zaynagro Industries Ltd, the Kitui-based company producing the biodiesel.
"We started producing and using it to power our cotton ginning factory in 2011. With increased production, we now use it for our trucks, sell it to the United Nations to run some of their buses - and also to local farmers for irrigation."
More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have actually up until now invested in biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an effort launched by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.
DRY RIVER BEDS
Climate change is taking a toll across east Africa and progressively erratic weather is becoming commonplace in nations such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rains.
The recurring droughts are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing countless people in the Horn of Africa to the verge of severe cravings.
The number of Kenyans in requirement of food help in March surged by practically 70 percent over a period of 8 months to 1.1 million, mostly due to bad rains, according to federal government figures.
With almost half Kenya's 47 counties declared to have a serious shortage of rain, humanitarian companies are warning of increased appetite in the months ahead.
"Only light rains is anticipated through June ... and this is not anticipated to ease dry spell in impacted locations of Kenya and Somalia," said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its most current report.
"Well below-average crop production, bad animals body conditions, and increased local food prices are expected, which will reduce bad families' access to food."
In Kitui's Kyuso area, the signs are currently evident.
Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as an outcome of the prolonged drought.
Villagers complain of trekking longer ranges - often more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys loaded with empty jerry cans in search of water.
Small-scale farmers, most of whom depend on rain-fed agriculture, talk about strategies to sell their goats to make ends meet if the harvest is bad.
BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL
But not all Kitui's farmers are stressed.
A little but growing number are shedding their burden of dependence on the weather - and investing in watering systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme launched more than three years earlier.
Neighbouring farmers band together to buy the watering system - that includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipelines and 10 litres of biodiesel - at costs beginning with 32,000 shillings, depending on the size of the pump.
The farmers make a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free month-to-month instalments until the total is paid off. They purchase the biodiesel to run the pumps from Zaynagro at 80 shillings a litre.
Farmer Alex Babu Kitheka, 39, stated the biodiesel pump permitted him to water a larger portion of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety of vegetables including maize, tomatoes, spinach and sweet potatoes.
"With a diesel pump, maize yields were lower and I would get 15,000 shillings in three months. With the biodiesel pump, I can earn 45,000 shillings," stated Alex Babu Kitheka, standing near his plot in Ilangilo village, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Other farmers indicate the scheme as a significant advantage in assisting improve their output.
"The instalment plan is good. Most farmers don't have the cash and can not quickly get a loan to buy a pump like this," stated Maurice Kitheka Munyoki, 41, as he stood beside his blue biodiesel pump.
"Having a plan like this assists us a lot. Our yields are excellent which suggests we can pay off the expense of the pump gradually in percentages, and have money left over to pay the school fees."
Zaynagro's effort is still in its early stages, with couple of farmers having repaid the complete cost of the pumps.
But such biofuel schemes are appealing because they produce a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for profit, said Sanjoy Sanyal, senior partner for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.
The simplicity of the design - user friendly, robust innovation, guaranteed supply of biodiesel combined with a pay-as-you-go scheme - might assist amaze rural Africa, he said.
"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options in the world. The crucial issue is checking concepts and approaches in a collaborative fashion," said Sanyal.
"Other cotton ginning factories in the region should attempt and learn from this experiment. Financial institutions must begin explore loans to groups of farmers. International donors and investors require to support experimentation."
($1 = 101.3000 Kenyan shillings) (Reporting by Nita Bhalla @nitabhalla, Editing by Claire Cozens. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, females's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, residential or commercial property rights and climate modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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Cotton Waste Biofuel Powers Farmers to Fight Drought In Kenya
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