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 irrigate his drought-hit crops more cheaply, cleanly and efficiently 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!" chuckled 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 stated, strolling over to a nearby tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has helped me get higher yields, specifically during drought durations."
Mathoka stated his profits had actually doubled in the two years he has been pumping water utilizing biodiesel, which is both more effective and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre more affordable than routine diesel.
The biodiesel he is using is not simply good news for him - it is also good news for the planet.
Unlike the majority of biofuels, which are from crops such as maize, sugarcane, soybean, rapeseed and jatropha curcas, it is made from a byproduct of the cotton-making procedure.
That indicates that as well as being cleaner and less expensive 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 driven forest communities off their land and pressed farmers to switch 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 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 utilize it for our trucks, offer it to the United Nations to run some of their buses - and also to local farmers for watering."
More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have actually up until now purchased biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an effort released by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.
DRY RIVER BEDS
Climate modification is taking a toll throughout east Africa and significantly erratic weather condition is ending up being commonplace in nations such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rains.
The repeating dry spells are ruining crops and pastures and are starving animals - pushing countless people in the Horn of Africa to the brink of severe appetite.
The number of Kenyans in requirement of food aid in March rose 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 lack of rain, humanitarian companies are warning of increased hunger in the months ahead.
"Only light rains is forecast through June ... and this is not expected to ease drought in affected locations of Kenya and Somalia," said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its newest report.
"Well below-average crop production, poor animals body conditions, and increased local food rates are anticipated, which will minimize bad homes' 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 dry spell.
Villagers complain of travelling longer distances - in some cases more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys packed with empty jerry cans looking for water.
Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom are reliant on rain-fed farming, go over strategies to sell their goats to make ends satisfy if the harvest is poor.
BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL
But not all Kitui's farmers are stressed.
A small but growing number are shedding their problem of dependence on the weather - and purchasing watering systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme launched more than three years back.
Neighbouring farmers unite to buy the irrigation system - which includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at expenses beginning from 32,000 shillings, depending on the size of the pump.
The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free regular monthly instalments up 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 allowed him to irrigate a bigger part 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 3 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 benefit in helping enhance their output.
"The instalment scheme is great. Most farmers do not have the cash and can not easily 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 assists us a lot. Our yields are great which suggests 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 stages, with few farmers having paid back the complete expense of the pumps.
But such biofuel schemes are promising due to the fact that they develop a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for profit, said Sanjoy Sanyal, senior associate for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.
The simplicity of the model - easy-to-use, robust technology, ensured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go scheme - could assist energize rural Africa, he said.
"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options on the planet. The essential concern is evaluating concepts and methods in a collective fashion," said Sanyal.
"Other cotton ginning factories in the region need to try and find out from this experiment. Banks need to start exploring 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, 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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