By Nita Bhalla
KITUI, Kenya, June 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Kenyan farmer Abel Mutie Mathoka thought it should be a joke when he was informed he could irrigate his drought-hit crops more cheaply, cleanly and effectively utilizing a pump sustained by cotton waste.
"Who could think it's possible to make a fuel 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 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 higher yields, especially throughout dry spell durations."
Mathoka stated his profits had actually doubled in the two years he has been pumping water utilizing 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 just excellent news for him - it is likewise excellent news for the planet.
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 implies that along with being cleaner and less expensive 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 driven forest neighborhoods off their land and pressed farmers to switch from crops-for-food to more successful crops-for-fuel - intensifying food lacks.
"Our biodiesel comes from crushing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning - the process 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 use it for our trucks, offer it to the United Nations to run a few of their buses - and also to regional farmers for irrigation."
More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have actually so far purchased biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an effort introduced by Zaynagro in 2015, stated Zavery.
DRY RIVER BEDS
Climate modification is taking a toll throughout east Africa and significantly irregular weather condition is becoming commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rainfall.
The recurring dry spells are damaging crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing millions of individuals in the Horn of Africa to the brink of extreme hunger.
The variety of Kenyans in need of food help in March rose by nearly 70 percent over a duration of eight months to 1.1 million, mostly due to poor rains, according to government figures.
With practically half Kenya's 47 counties stated to have a severe scarcity of rain, humanitarian agencies are cautioning of increased hunger in the months ahead.
"Only light rainfall is anticipated through June ... and this is not expected to ease dry spell in impacted areas 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 regional food costs are expected, which will reduce bad households' access to food."
In Kitui's Kyuso location, the signs are currently apparent.
Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as a result of the extended drought.
Villagers grumble of longer ranges - often more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys loaded with empty jerry cans searching for water.
Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom depend on rain-fed agriculture, 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 fretted.
A small but growing number are shedding their burden of dependence on the weather condition - and purchasing irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan released more than 3 years back.
Neighbouring farmers band together to buy the watering system - which includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipelines and 10 litres of biodiesel - at costs starting from 32,000 shillings, depending on the size of the pump.
The farmers make a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free month-to-month 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, said the biodiesel pump enabled him to irrigate a larger part of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety 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 3 months. With the biodiesel pump, I can earn 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 scheme as a significant benefit in helping improve their output.
"The instalment scheme is excellent. Most farmers do not have the money and can not quickly 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 scheme like this assists us a lot. Our yields are good which means we can settle the expense of the pump slowly in small amounts, and have money left over to pay the school costs."
Zaynagro's initiative is still in its early phases, with few farmers having repaid the full cost of the pumps.
But such biofuel schemes are promising since 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 design - 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 alternatives on the planet. The crucial problem is checking concepts and techniques in a collective style," stated Sanyal.
"Other cotton ginning factories in the area should try and discover from this experiment. Financial institutions should start try out 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, property rights and climate modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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Cotton Waste Biofuel Powers Farmers to Eliminate Drought In Kenya
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