By Nita Bhalla

KITUI, Kenya, June 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Kenyan farmer Abel Mutie Mathoka believed it needs to be a joke when he was informed he could water his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, easily and effectively utilizing a pump fuelled by cotton waste.

“Who could believe it’s possible to make a fuel better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn’t!” chuckled Mathoka, crouching down to inspect the watermelons on his 10-acre (four-hectare) shared plot in Ituri village in Kenya’s southeast Kitui county.

“But it works,” he stated, walking over to a nearby tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. “Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually helped me get higher yields, especially during dry spell durations.”

Mathoka stated his revenues had doubled in the 2 years he has been pumping water using biodiesel, which is both more efficient and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre more affordable than .

The biodiesel he is utilizing is not just good news for him - it is likewise excellent news for the world.

Unlike many biofuels, which are originated from crops such as maize, sugarcane, soybean, rapeseed and jatropha, it is made from a by-product of the cotton-making procedure.

That means that along with being cleaner and more affordable than routine fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels since no extra land is needed to produce it.

From Brazil to Indonesia, the rush to cultivate biofuel crops has actually driven forest communities off their land and pushed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more successful crops-for-fuel - worsening food scarcities.

“Our biodiesel originates from squashing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning - the procedure of separating the seeds from raw cotton,” said Taher Zavery, handling director of Zaynagro Industries Ltd, the Kitui-based company producing the biodiesel.

“We began 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 a few of their buses - and likewise to local farmers for watering.”

More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have actually so far invested in biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an initiative released by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate modification is taking a toll throughout east Africa and increasingly erratic weather is ending up being commonplace in nations such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rainfall.

The repeating droughts are damaging crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing countless people in the Horn of Africa to the brink of extreme cravings.

The number of Kenyans in requirement of food help in March rose by nearly 70 percent over a duration of eight months to 1.1 million, mainly due to bad rains, according to federal government figures.

With almost half Kenya’s 47 counties declared to have a major lack of rain, humanitarian companies are warning of increased cravings in the months ahead.

“Only light rainfall is forecast through June … and this is not anticipated to ease drought in affected areas of Kenya and Somalia,” stated the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its newest report.

“Well below-average crop production, bad animals body conditions, and increased regional food rates are anticipated, which will reduce bad homes’ access to food.”

In Kitui’s Kyuso area, the indications are currently evident.

Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as a result of the prolonged dry spell.

Villagers experience travelling longer distances - sometimes more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys packed with empty jerry cans looking for water.

Small-scale farmers, most of whom are dependent on rain-fed agriculture, go over plans to offer their goats to make ends meet if the harvest is poor.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui’s farmers are worried.

A little however growing number are shedding their burden of reliance on the weather condition - and buying irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro’s cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme released more than 3 years back.

Neighbouring farmers unite to invest in the irrigation system - which consists of the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at costs beginning from 32,000 shillings, depending upon the size of the pump.

The farmers make a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free month-to-month instalments until the overall is paid off. They purchase the biodiesel to run the pumps from Zaynagro at 80 shillings a litre.

Farmer Alex Babu Kitheka, 39, said the biodiesel pump permitted him to irrigate a larger part of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety of veggies including maize, tomatoes, spinach and sweet potatoes.

“With a diesel pump, maize yields were lower and I would get 15,000 shillings in 3 months. With the biodiesel pump, I can make 45,000 shillings,” stated Alex Babu Kitheka, standing near his plot in Ilangilo town, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Other farmers point to the scheme as a significant advantage in assisting improve their output.

“The instalment plan is good. Most farmers don’t have the money and can not quickly get a loan to purchase a pump like this,” said Maurice Kitheka Munyoki, 41, as he stood beside his blue biodiesel pump.

“Having a scheme like this assists us a lot. Our yields are great which implies we can settle the cost of the pump slowly in little amounts, and have money left over to pay the school costs.”

Zaynagro’s initiative is still in its early stages, with few farmers having actually repaid the full expense of the pumps.

But such biofuel plans are appealing since they develop a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for earnings, said Sanjoy Sanyal, senior associate for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

The simplicity of the design - easy-to-use, robust innovation, assured supply of biodiesel combined with a pay-as-you-go scheme - might help amaze rural Africa, he stated.

“There is a mosaic of sustainable energy alternatives on the planet. The key issue is evaluating ideas and techniques in a collective fashion,” stated Sanyal.

“Other cotton ginning factories in the region should attempt and discover from this experiment. Financial organizations must begin experimenting with loans to groups of farmers. International donors and financiers 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, women’s and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, home rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)