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 needs to be a joke when he was told he could irrigate his drought-hit crops more cheaply, cleanly and effectively utilizing 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!" laughed Mathoka, crouching down to check the watermelons on his 10-acre (four-hectare) shared plot in Ituri village in Kitui county.


"But it works," he stated, walking over to a neighboring tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has assisted me get higher yields, particularly during dry spell periods."


Mathoka said his profits had actually doubled in the 2 years he has actually been pumping water utilizing biodiesel, which is both more effective and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre more affordable than regular diesel.


The biodiesel he is utilizing is not just good news for him - it is also great news for the world.


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


That means that as well as being cleaner and more affordable than regular fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels because no additional land is needed to produce it.


From Brazil to Indonesia, the rush to cultivate biofuel crops has actually driven forest neighborhoods off their land and pressed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more profitable crops-for-fuel - intensifying food shortages.


"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, handling director of Zaynagro Industries Ltd, the Kitui-based company producing the biodiesel.


"We started producing and utilizing 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 also to regional farmers for watering."


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


DRY RIVER BEDS


Climate change is taking a toll throughout east Africa and progressively irregular weather condition is ending up being commonplace in nations such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rainfall.


The repeating dry spells are damaging crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing countless individuals in the Horn of Africa to the verge of severe hunger.


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


With nearly half Kenya's 47 counties declared to have a serious shortage 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 minimize 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, poor livestock body conditions, and increased local food prices are anticipated, which will reduce bad households' access to food."


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


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


Villagers suffer travelling longer distances - in some cases more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys packed with empty jerry cans looking for water.


Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom are reliant on rain-fed farming, go over plans 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 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 scheme released more than 3 years earlier.


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


The farmers make a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free regular monthly instalments up until the overall 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 allowed him to irrigate a bigger portion of his one-acre plot, where he grows a range of veggies including 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 scheme as a significant benefit in assisting improve their output.


"The instalment plan is good. Most farmers don't have the money and can not quickly get a loan to purchase a pump like this," stated Maurice Kitheka Munyoki, 41, as he stood beside his blue biodiesel pump.


"Having a scheme like this helps us a lot. Our yields are great which suggests we can settle the cost of the pump gradually in little amounts, and have cash left over to pay the school costs."


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 promising because they create a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for profit, said Sanjoy Sanyal, senior partner 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 scheme - could assist electrify rural Africa, he said.


"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options worldwide. The essential problem is checking ideas and approaches in a collaborative fashion," said Sanyal.


"Other cotton ginning factories in the area must try and find out from this experiment. Financial institutions need to start try out 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)