By Nita Bhalla

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

“Who could believe it’s possible to make a fuel 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 stated, walking over to a nearby tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. “Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually assisted me get greater yields, specifically throughout dry spell periods.”

Mathoka stated his incomes had actually doubled in the 2 years he has actually been pumping water using biodiesel, which is both more effective and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre cheaper than routine diesel.

The biodiesel he is utilizing is not simply good 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 by-product of the cotton-making process.

That suggests that as well as being cleaner and cheaper than regular fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels because no additional land is required to produce it.

From Brazil to Indonesia, the rush to cultivate biofuel crops has actually driven forest neighborhoods off their land and pushed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more profitable crops-for-fuel - exacerbating food shortages.

“Our biodiesel comes from squashing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning - the process of separating the seeds from raw cotton,” said 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, offer it to the United Nations to run some of their buses - and likewise to local farmers for irrigation.”

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

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate modification is taking a toll throughout east Africa and significantly irregular weather condition is becoming commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rainfall.

The recurring droughts are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals - pushing millions of individuals in the Horn of Africa to the edge of severe appetite.

The number of Kenyans in need of food help in March rose by nearly 70 percent over a of 8 months to 1.1 million, largely due to bad rains, according to government figures.

With nearly half Kenya’s 47 counties stated to have a severe lack of rain, humanitarian agencies are alerting of increased hunger in the months ahead.

“Only light rains is anticipated through June … and this is not anticipated to reduce dry spell in impacted locations of Kenya and Somalia,” stated the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its most current report.

“Well below-average crop production, poor livestock body conditions, and increased regional food prices are prepared for, which will reduce poor families’ access to food.”

In Kitui’s Kyuso area, the signs are already apparent.

Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as a result of the extended drought.

Villagers experience travelling longer ranges - in some cases more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys laden with empty jerry cans looking for water.

Small-scale farmers, most of whom depend on rain-fed farming, talk about plans to offer their goats to make ends satisfy if the harvest is bad.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui’s farmers are fretted.

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

Neighbouring farmers band together to purchase the irrigation system - which includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipelines and 10 litres of biodiesel - at expenses beginning from 32,000 shillings, depending on the size of the pump.

The farmers make a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free regular monthly instalments up until the overall is paid off. They buy 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 bigger portion of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety of veggies consisting of 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 earn 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 indicate the scheme as a major benefit in helping enhance their output.

“The instalment plan is excellent. Most farmers do not have the cash and can not quickly get a loan to purchase a pump like this,” stated Maurice Kitheka Munyoki, 41, as he stood next to his blue biodiesel pump.

“Having a plan like this helps us a lot. Our yields are excellent which indicates we can settle the expense of the pump slowly in percentages, and have money left over to pay the school fees.”

Zaynagro’s effort is still in its early phases, with few farmers having paid back the complete expense of the pumps.

But such biofuel plans are promising due to the fact that they create a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for profit, stated Sanjoy Sanyal, senior associate for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

The simpleness of the design - user friendly, robust innovation, guaranteed supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go scheme - might assist amaze rural Africa, he stated.

“There is a mosaic of sustainable energy choices in the world. The essential problem is testing concepts and methods in a collaborative fashion,” stated Sanyal.

“Other cotton ginning factories in the region need to attempt and learn from this experiment. Financial organizations must begin try out 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, ladies’s and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights and environment modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)