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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 believed it should be a joke when he was told he could irrigate his drought-hit crops more cheaply, easily and efficiently using a pump sustained by cotton waste.

“Who could believe it’s possible to make a fuel better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn’t!” laughed Mathoka, bending down to inspect 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 nearby tree and a big green pawpaw. “Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually helped me get greater yields, especially during dry spell periods.”

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 cheaper than regular diesel.

The biodiesel he is using is not just excellent news for him – it is likewise great news for the planet.

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

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

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

“Our biodiesel comes from squashing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning – the process of separating the seeds from raw cotton,” said Taher Zavery, managing 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 also to local farmers for watering.”

More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have up until now purchased biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an effort launched by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate change is taking a toll throughout east Africa and increasingly erratic weather condition is ending up being commonplace in nations such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rains.

The recurring droughts are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals – pressing countless individuals in the Horn of Africa to the brink of extreme hunger.

The variety of Kenyans in need of food aid in March rose by nearly 70 percent over a period of 8 months to 1.1 million, mostly 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 alerting of increased appetite in the months ahead.

“Only light rains is anticipated through June … and this is not anticipated to alleviate dry spell in affected locations of Kenya and Somalia,” said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its latest report.

“Well below-average crop production, poor animals body conditions, and increased local food prices are anticipated, which will lower poor families’ access to food.”

In Kitui’s Kyuso location, the signs are currently evident.

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

Villagers experience travelling longer ranges – often more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys laden with empty jerry cans searching for water.

Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom depend on rain-fed farming, talk about strategies to offer their goats to make ends meet if the harvest is poor.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui’s farmers are worried.

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

Neighbouring farmers unite to invest in the irrigation system – that includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel – at costs beginning from 32,000 shillings, depending upon the size of the pump.

The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free regular monthly instalments till 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 permitted him to irrigate a bigger 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,” stated Alex Babu Kitheka, standing near his plot in Ilangilo village, 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 excellent. Most farmers don’t have the cash and can not quickly get a loan to buy a pump like this,” said 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 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 few farmers having repaid the complete expense of the pumps.

But such biofuel plans are appealing since they develop 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 simplicity of the design – user friendly, robust innovation, guaranteed supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go scheme – might assist energize rural Africa, he said.

“There is a mosaic of sustainable energy choices worldwide. The crucial concern is evaluating ideas and approaches in a collaborative style,” stated Sanyal.

“Other cotton ginning factories in the region ought to try and gain from this experiment. Financial institutions ought to begin explore 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, ladies’s and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights and environment change. Visit http://news.trust.org)

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