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1 Cotton Waste Biofuel Powers Farmers to Eliminate Drought In Kenya

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 inexpensively, cleanly and effectively using a 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 town in Kenya's southeast Kitui county.

"But it works," he said, walking over to a nearby tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually helped me get higher yields, particularly during dry spell durations."

Mathoka said his earnings had actually 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 cheaper than routine diesel.

The biodiesel he is using is not just great news for him - it is likewise good 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 procedure.

That indicates that in addition to being cleaner and more affordable than regular 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 communities off their land and pushed 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 process of separating the seeds from raw cotton," said 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 utilize it for our trucks, sell it to the United Nations to run a few of their buses - and also to regional farmers for watering."

More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have actually so far invested in biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an effort launched by Zaynagro in 2015, stated Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate change is taking a toll across east Africa and progressively irregular weather is ending up being commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rains.

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 number of Kenyans in need of food help in March rose by nearly 70 percent over a period of eight months to 1.1 million, mostly due to poor rains, according to government figures.

With nearly half Kenya's 47 counties declared to have a serious lack of rain, humanitarian agencies are warning of increased cravings in the months ahead.

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

"Well below-average crop production, poor livestock body conditions, and increased local food costs are anticipated, which will minimize bad families' 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 prolonged drought.

Villagers complain of travelling longer ranges - in some cases 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 plans to sell their goats to make ends meet if the harvest is bad.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui's farmers are fretted.

A little however growing number are shedding their burden of reliance 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 band together to purchase the irrigation system - which consists of the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at costs beginning with 32,000 shillings, depending upon the size of the pump.

The farmers make a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free month-to-month instalments until the overall 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 permitted him to water a bigger portion of his one-acre plot, where he grows a range of veggies 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 plan as a significant advantage in assisting improve their output.

"The instalment scheme is good. 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 helps us a lot. Our yields are excellent which implies we can settle the cost of the pump gradually in percentages, and have money left over to pay the school charges."

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

But such biofuel plans are appealing since they develop 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 design - user friendly, robust technology, assured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go plan - might help energize rural Africa, he said.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy choices worldwide. The crucial concern is evaluating ideas and methods in a collaborative fashion," said Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the area ought to attempt and learn from this experiment. Financial organizations need to begin experimenting with 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, females's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, home rights and environment change. Visit http://news.trust.org)