GitLab

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 could irrigate his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, cleanly and efficiently utilizing a pump fuelled by cotton waste.

"Who could think it's possible to make a fuel much better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn't!" laughed Mathoka, crouching down to inspect the watermelons on his 10-acre (four-hectare) shared plot in Ituri town in Kenya's southeast Kitui county.

"But it works," he said, strolling over to a nearby tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has helped me get higher yields, especially throughout dry spell periods."

Mathoka stated his profits had doubled in the 2 years he has been pumping water utilizing biodiesel, which is both more efficient and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre less expensive than regular diesel.

The biodiesel he is using is not just excellent news for him - it is also good news for the planet.

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

That indicates that as well as being cleaner and more affordable 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 driven forest neighborhoods off their land and pushed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more profitable crops-for-fuel - exacerbating food scarcities.

"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 began producing and using it to power our cotton ginning factory in 2011. With increased production, we now utilize it for our trucks, sell it to the United Nations to run some of their buses - and also to regional farmers for irrigation."

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

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate modification is taking a toll across east Africa and significantly unpredictable weather condition is becoming commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rainfall.

The recurring droughts are ruining crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing countless individuals in the Horn of Africa to the verge of extreme appetite.

The number of Kenyans in requirement of food aid in March rose by almost 70 percent over a duration of 8 months to 1.1 million, mostly due to poor rains, according to government figures.

With nearly half Kenya's 47 counties stated to have a serious lack of rain, humanitarian companies are alerting of increased cravings in the months ahead.

"Only light rains is forecast through June ... and this is not expected to alleviate dry spell in impacted locations of Kenya and Somalia," said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its newest report.

"Well below-average crop production, bad animals body conditions, and increased regional food prices are anticipated, which will reduce bad families' access to food."

In Kitui's Kyuso location, the signs are currently evident.

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

Villagers suffer trekking longer distances - often more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys loaded with empty jerry cans searching for water.

Small-scale farmers, most of whom depend on rain-fed agriculture, go over strategies to sell their goats to make ends satisfy if the harvest is bad.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui's farmers are worried.

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

Neighbouring farmers band together to purchase the watering system - that includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at expenses starting from 32,000 shillings, depending on the size of the pump.

The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free monthly instalments till the total 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 irrigate a bigger portion of his one-acre plot, where he grows a range 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 three months. With the biodiesel pump, I can make 45,000 shillings," said Alex Babu Kitheka, standing near his plot in Ilangilo town, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Other farmers indicate the plan as a significant advantage in assisting improve their output.

"The instalment scheme is good. Most farmers don't have the cash and can not easily get a loan to buy a pump like this," said 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 implies we can pay off the expense of the pump gradually in percentages, and have cash left over to pay the school fees."

Zaynagro's initiative is still in its early phases, with few farmers having paid back the complete cost of the pumps.

But such biofuel schemes are promising since they produce a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for revenue, stated Sanjoy Sanyal, senior partner for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

The simplicity of the design - user friendly, robust innovation, ensured supply of biodiesel combined with a pay-as-you-go scheme - might assist energize rural Africa, he stated.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options in the world. The key problem is testing concepts and methods in a collective style," stated Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the area must try and discover from this experiment. Banks ought to start try out 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, property rights and environment change. Visit http://news.trust.org)