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 thought it needs to be a joke when he was informed he could irrigate his drought-hit crops more cheaply, easily and efficiently utilizing 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, crouching 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 stated, strolling over to a neighboring tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has helped me get higher yields, specifically during dry spell periods."

Mathoka stated his earnings had actually 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 less expensive than regular diesel.

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

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

That suggests that along with being cleaner and cheaper 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 pushed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more successful crops-for-fuel - worsening food scarcities.

"Our biodiesel comes from crushing 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 using 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 likewise to regional farmers for irrigation."

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

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate modification is taking a toll across east Africa and significantly unpredictable weather is becoming commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rains.

The repeating dry spells are ruining crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing millions of people in the Horn of Africa to the brink of extreme appetite.

The number of Kenyans in need of food help in March surged by practically 70 percent over a duration of 8 months to 1.1 million, largely due to bad rains, according to federal government figures.

With practically half Kenya's 47 counties declared to have a serious shortage of rain, humanitarian firms are alerting of increased hunger in the months ahead.

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

"Well below-average crop production, bad animals body conditions, and increased local food costs are anticipated, which will decrease poor families' access to food."

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

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

Villagers suffer trekking longer distances - sometimes more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys laden with empty jerry cans looking for water.

Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom depend on rain-fed agriculture, talk about 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 - and buying irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme introduced more than 3 years ago.

Neighbouring farmers unite to buy the watering system - which includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at expenses beginning with 32,000 shillings, depending on the size of the pump.

The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free regular monthly instalments till the overall is settled. 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 larger portion 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 3 months. With the biodiesel pump, I can make 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 point to the plan as a significant advantage in helping enhance their output.

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

"Having a scheme like this helps us a lot. Our yields are excellent which suggests we can settle the cost 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 couple of farmers having repaid the full cost of the pumps.

But such biofuel plans are promising due to the fact that they create 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 innovation, ensured supply of biodiesel combined with a pay-as-you-go scheme - could help energize rural Africa, he stated.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy choices worldwide. The essential concern is testing concepts and approaches in a collaborative fashion," said Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the region should try and learn from this experiment. Banks should begin try out 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, and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, home rights and climate modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)