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 believed it needs to be a joke when he was informed he could water his drought-hit crops more cheaply, easily and effectively using a pump sustained by cotton waste.

"Who could believe it's possible to make a fuel much 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, walking over to a close-by tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has helped me get higher yields, specifically throughout dry spell periods."

Mathoka said his earnings had actually doubled in the 2 years he has 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 using is not simply excellent news for him - it is likewise excellent news for the world.

Unlike a lot 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 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 needed 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 food lacks.

"Our biodiesel originates 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 company 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 watering."

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

DRY RIVER BEDS

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

The recurring dry spells are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals - pushing millions of individuals in the Horn of Africa to the brink of severe appetite.

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

With almost half Kenya's 47 counties stated to have a severe shortage of rain, humanitarian agencies are cautioning of increased appetite in the months ahead.

"Only light rains is forecast through June ... and this is not anticipated to ease 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 animals body conditions, and increased local food costs are expected, which will decrease bad households' access to food."

In Kitui's Kyuso area, the signs are already apparent.

Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as an outcome of the prolonged dry spell.

Villagers experience travelling longer distances - often more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys laden with empty jerry cans looking for water.

Small-scale farmers, most of whom depend on rain-fed farming, go over plans to sell their goats to make ends fulfill if the harvest is poor.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui's farmers are stressed.

A small however growing number are shedding their concern of reliance on the weather - and buying watering systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan released more than 3 years back.

Neighbouring farmers unite to invest in the irrigation system - that includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipelines and 10 litres of biodiesel - at expenses beginning with 32,000 shillings, depending on the size of the pump.

The farmers make a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free month-to-month instalments up until the total is paid off. They purchase 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 water a larger portion 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 three 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 major benefit in helping enhance their output.

"The instalment scheme is excellent. Most farmers do not have the cash 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 plan like this assists us a lot. Our yields are good which suggests we can pay off the expense of the pump gradually in percentages, and have money left over to pay the school fees."

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

But such biofuel schemes are appealing due to the fact that they create a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for revenue, said Sanjoy Sanyal, senior associate for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

The simplicity of the design - easy-to-use, robust innovation, assured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go plan - might assist electrify rural Africa, he stated.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy alternatives in the world. The essential problem is checking ideas and methods in a collaborative fashion," stated Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the region must try and discover from this experiment. Banks ought to begin 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, ladies's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)