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1 Cotton Waste Biofuel Powers Farmers to Combat Drought In Kenya

By Nita Bhalla

KITUI, Kenya, June 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Kenyan farmer Abel Mutie Mathoka thought it must be a joke when he was told he could water his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, easily 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 check the watermelons on his 10-acre (four-hectare) shared plot in Ituri village in Kenya's southeast Kitui county.

"But it works," he said, strolling over to a close-by tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually helped me get greater yields, especially throughout drought durations."

Mathoka said his earnings had doubled in the two years he has been 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 good news for him - it is also good news for the planet.

Unlike many biofuels, which are obtained 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 regular fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels since no additional land is required to produce it.

From Brazil to Indonesia, the rush to cultivate biofuel crops has driven forest neighborhoods off their land and pushed farmers to switch from crops-for-food to more successful crops-for-fuel - worsening food scarcities.

"Our biodiesel originates from squashing 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 began producing and utilizing 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 some of their buses - and also to local farmers for watering."

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

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate modification is taking a toll throughout east Africa and significantly irregular weather is ending up being commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rainfall.

The recurring dry spells are ruining crops and pastures and are starving animals - pushing countless people in the Horn of Africa to the brink of extreme appetite.

The variety of Kenyans in requirement of food aid in March surged by practically 70 percent over a duration of eight months to 1.1 million, largely due to poor rains, according to federal government figures.

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

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

"Well below-average crop production, bad livestock body conditions, and increased regional food rates are anticipated, 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 a result of the extended drought.

Villagers complain of trekking longer ranges - often more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys laden with empty jerry cans looking for water.

Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom are dependent on rain-fed agriculture, go over strategies to offer their goats to make ends fulfill if the harvest is poor.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui's farmers are fretted.

A little 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 launched more than 3 years ago.

Neighbouring farmers unite to purchase the watering system - which consists of the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at expenses starting from 32,000 shillings, depending upon the size of the pump.

The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free monthly instalments till the total is settled. They purchase 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 irrigate a bigger part of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety 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," said 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 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," said 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 great which suggests we can pay off 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 phases, with few farmers having actually repaid the complete cost of the pumps.

But such biofuel plans are appealing because they create a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for revenue, stated Sanjoy Sanyal, senior associate for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

The simplicity of the design - user friendly, robust innovation, assured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go scheme - might help electrify rural Africa, he said.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy alternatives worldwide. The essential issue is testing concepts and methods in a collective fashion," said Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the area must try and discover from this experiment. Financial organizations ought to begin experimenting with loans to groups of farmers. International donors and investors 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, females's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)