By Nita Bhalla
KITUI, Kenya, June 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Kenyan farmer Abel Mutie Mathoka thought it needs to be a joke when he was informed he might irrigate his drought-hit crops more cheaply, cleanly and effectively using a pump fuelled by cotton waste.
"Who could believe it's possible to make a fuel 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 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 assisted me get greater yields, specifically throughout dry spell durations."
Mathoka said his profits had doubled in the 2 years he has actually 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 simply excellent news for him - it is also excellent news for the planet.
Unlike the majority of 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 indicates that along with being cleaner and cheaper than regular fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels due to the fact that no additional 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 change from crops-for-food to more rewarding crops-for-fuel - exacerbating food lacks.
"Our biodiesel comes from squashing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning - the procedure of separating the seeds from raw cotton," stated Taher Zavery, managing director of Zaynagro Industries 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 utilize it for our trucks, sell it to the United Nations to run a few of their buses - and likewise to local farmers for irrigation."
More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have so far invested in biodiesel pumps for watering as part of an initiative released by in 2015, said Zavery.
DRY RIVER BEDS
Climate change is taking a toll throughout 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 destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals - pushing millions of people in the Horn of Africa to the verge of extreme cravings.
The number of Kenyans in requirement of food help in March surged by nearly 70 percent over a period of eight months to 1.1 million, mainly due to bad rains, according to government figures.
With practically 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 anticipated to ease dry spell in affected 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 prepared for, which will minimize poor households' access to food."
In Kitui's Kyuso location, the indications are already apparent.
Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as a result of the extended dry spell.
Villagers grumble of trekking 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 offer their goats to make ends satisfy if the harvest is bad.
BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL
But not all Kitui's farmers are stressed.
A little but growing number are shedding their concern of dependence on the weather - and buying watering systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan released more than three years earlier.
Neighbouring farmers unite to buy the irrigation system - which includes 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 an initial 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, stated the biodiesel pump permitted him to irrigate a bigger 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 plan is great. Most farmers do not have the cash and can not easily 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 plan like this helps us a lot. Our yields are good which indicates we can pay off the expense of the pump slowly in percentages, and have cash left over to pay the school fees."
Zaynagro's initiative is still in its early stages, with few farmers having paid back the complete cost of the pumps.
But such biofuel plans are appealing because they produce a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for earnings, stated 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 scheme - might assist electrify rural Africa, he stated.
"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options worldwide. The crucial issue is checking ideas and methods in a collective style," stated Sanyal.
"Other cotton ginning factories in the region ought to try and gain from this experiment. Financial institutions should begin exploring with 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, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, home rights and climate modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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Cotton Waste Biofuel Powers Farmers to Eliminate Drought In Kenya
Eileen Finkel edited this page 3 months ago