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, easily and efficiently using a pump fuelled by cotton waste.
"Who could believe it's possible to make a fuel much better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn't!" chuckled Mathoka, crouching down to check the watermelons on his 10-acre (four-hectare) shared plot in Ituri village in Kenya's southeast Kitui county.
"But it works," he stated, strolling over to a close-by tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually assisted me get higher yields, specifically throughout drought durations."
Mathoka stated his revenues had doubled in the two years he has been pumping water utilizing biodiesel, which is both more effective and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre less expensive than routine diesel.
The biodiesel he is using is not just excellent news for him - it is likewise excellent news for the world.
Unlike most biofuels, which are stemmed from crops such as maize, sugarcane, soybean, rapeseed and jatropha, it is made from a by-product of the cotton-making process.
That indicates 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 driven forest communities off their land and pressed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more rewarding crops-for-fuel - intensifying 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 Ltd, the Kitui-based business 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 so far bought biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an effort launched by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.
DRY RIVER BEDS
Climate modification is taking a toll throughout east Africa and progressively erratic weather condition is becoming commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rains.
The recurring dry spells are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing millions of individuals in the Horn of Africa to the brink of extreme hunger.
The number of Kenyans in requirement of food aid in March rose by nearly 70 percent over a period of eight months to 1.1 million, largely due to poor rains, according to federal government figures.
With nearly half Kenya's 47 counties stated to have a major lack of rain, humanitarian firms are alerting of increased hunger in the months ahead.
"Only light rainfall is anticipated through June ... and this is not anticipated to relieve dry spell in impacted areas of Kenya and Somalia," said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its latest report.
"Well below-average crop production, poor livestock body conditions, and increased local food rates are anticipated, which will decrease poor families' access to food."
In Kitui's Kyuso location, the signs are already evident.
Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as an outcome of the prolonged drought.
Villagers complain of travelling longer ranges - often more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys loaded with empty jerry cans looking for water.
Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom are dependent on rain-fed agriculture, talk about strategies to sell their goats to make ends meet 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 concern of dependence on the weather - and buying irrigation 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 - which includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at expenses beginning with 32,000 shillings, depending upon the size of the pump.
The farmers make a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free monthly instalments till 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, said the biodiesel pump permitted him to irrigate a bigger part 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," said Alex Babu Kitheka, standing near his plot in Ilangilo village, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Other farmers indicate the plan as a major benefit in assisting improve their output.
"The instalment plan is excellent. Most farmers don't have the cash and can not easily get a loan to purchase 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 great which means we can pay off the cost of the pump slowly in percentages, and have cash left over to pay the school fees."
Zaynagro's effort is still in its early stages, with few farmers having repaid the complete expense of the pumps.
But such biofuel schemes are promising because they develop a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for revenue, said Sanjoy Sanyal, senior partner for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.
The simpleness of the model - easy-to-use, robust technology, assured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go plan - might assist amaze rural Africa, he said.
"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy alternatives worldwide. The crucial problem is checking ideas and approaches in a collaborative fashion," stated Sanyal.
"Other cotton ginning factories in the area ought to try and gain from this experiment. Banks need to start 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, ladies's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights and environment modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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Cotton Waste Biofuel Powers Farmers to Combat Drought In Kenya
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