GitLab

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 could water his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, cleanly and effectively using a pump fuelled by cotton waste.

"Who could think it's possible to make a fuel better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn't!" laughed Mathoka, bending 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 nearby tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has assisted me get greater yields, particularly throughout dry spell periods."

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

The biodiesel he is utilizing is not simply excellent news for him - it is also good news for the world.

Unlike the majority of biofuels, which are derived from crops such as maize, sugarcane, soybean, rapeseed and jatropha curcas, it is made from a byproduct of the cotton-making procedure.

That means that in addition to being cleaner and more affordable than routine fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels since no extra 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 pressed farmers to switch from crops-for-food to more lucrative crops-for-fuel - exacerbating food scarcities.

"Our biodiesel comes from crushing 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 began producing and utilizing 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 up until now purchased 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 increasingly irregular weather is becoming commonplace in nations such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rainfall.

The repeating droughts are ruining crops and pastures and are starving animals - pushing countless people in the Horn of Africa to the verge of extreme hunger.

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

With nearly half Kenya's 47 counties stated to have a major scarcity of rain, humanitarian firms are warning of increased appetite in the months ahead.

"Only light rains is forecast through June ... and this is not expected to reduce drought in impacted locations of Kenya and Somalia," stated the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its latest report.

"Well below-average crop production, bad livestock body conditions, and increased regional food rates are expected, which will reduce bad households' access to food."

In Kitui's Kyuso area, the indications are already obvious.

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

Villagers complain of travelling longer ranges - often more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys packed with empty jerry cans looking for water.

Small-scale farmers, many of whom are dependent on rain-fed farming, talk about plans to offer their goats to make ends fulfill if the harvest is poor.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui's farmers are worried.

A small however growing number are shedding their burden of dependence on the weather - and investing in irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme released more than 3 years ago.

Neighbouring farmers unite to invest in the irrigation system - which consists of the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at expenses beginning from 32,000 shillings, depending upon the size of the pump.

The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free monthly instalments till the total is settled. 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 water a bigger part of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety 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 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 assisting improve their output.

"The instalment scheme is excellent. Most farmers do not have the cash and can not quickly get a loan to buy a pump like this," said Munyoki, 41, as he stood beside his blue biodiesel pump.

"Having a scheme like this assists us a lot. Our yields are excellent which means we can pay off the cost of the pump gradually in percentages, and have money left over to pay the school costs."

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

But such biofuel schemes are appealing since 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 model - easy-to-use, robust innovation, guaranteed 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 on the planet. The crucial problem is evaluating ideas and approaches in a collective fashion," said Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the area ought to attempt and find out from this experiment. Banks should begin experimenting with loans to groups of farmers. International donors and financiers need 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)