1 Cotton Waste Biofuel Powers Farmers to Combat Drought In Kenya

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By Nita Bhalla

KITUI, Kenya, June 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Kenyan farmer Abel Mutie Mathoka believed it should be a joke when he was told he might irrigate his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, 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, bending down to examine 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 close-by tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has helped me get greater yields, especially during drought periods."

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

The biodiesel he is using is not simply good news for him - it is likewise great news for the world.

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

That means that in addition to being cleaner and more affordable than regular fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels since no additional land is needed 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 switch from crops-for-food to more rewarding crops-for-fuel - intensifying food shortages.

"Our biodiesel originates from crushing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning - the procedure of separating the seeds from raw cotton," said Taher Zavery, managing 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, sell it to the United Nations to run a few of their buses - and also to local farmers for irrigation."

More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have actually up until now bought biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an effort introduced by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate change is taking a toll across east Africa and significantly erratic weather condition is ending up being commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rains.

The repeating dry spells are damaging crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing countless individuals in the Horn of Africa to the verge of severe hunger.

The variety of Kenyans in requirement of food help in March surged by nearly 70 percent over a period of 8 months to 1.1 million, mainly due to bad rains, according to government figures.

With almost half Kenya's 47 counties declared to have a serious shortage of rain, humanitarian agencies are cautioning of increased appetite in the months ahead.

"Only light rainfall is forecast through June ... and this is not expected to alleviate 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, bad animals body conditions, and increased local food rates are anticipated, which will minimize poor households' access to food."

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

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

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

Small-scale farmers, many of whom are dependent on rain-fed agriculture, talk about 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 fretted.

A little but growing number are shedding their problem of dependence on the weather - and investing in irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan launched more than 3 years back.

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

The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free regular monthly instalments until the total is settled. They purchase the biodiesel to run the pumps from Zaynagro at 80 shillings a litre.

Farmer Alex Babu Kitheka, 39, stated the biodiesel pump allowed him to water a bigger part of his one-acre plot, where he grows a range of vegetables consisting of 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," 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 advantage in helping improve their output.

"The instalment plan is good. Most farmers don't have the cash and can not quickly get a loan to buy a pump like this," said Maurice Kitheka Munyoki, 41, as he stood next to his blue biodiesel pump.

"Having a scheme like this assists us a lot. Our yields are good which means we can pay off the expense of the pump slowly in percentages, and have cash left over to pay the school charges."

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

But such biofuel plans are promising because they produce 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, ensured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go plan - could assist electrify rural Africa, he stated.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options worldwide. The essential problem is checking concepts and methods in a collective style," stated Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the region should attempt and gain from this experiment. Banks should begin explore 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, females's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, residential or commercial property rights and environment modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)