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 should be a joke when he was informed he could water his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, cleanly and effectively using a pump fuelled by cotton waste.


"Who could think it's possible to make a fuel much better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn't!" chuckled Mathoka, bending down to examine the watermelons on his 10-acre (four-hectare) shared plot in Ituri village in Kenya's southeast Kitui county.


"But it works," he stated, strolling over to a close-by tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has assisted me get higher yields, specifically during drought durations."


Mathoka stated his profits had actually doubled in the two years he has actually been pumping water using biodiesel, which is both more effective and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre less expensive than routine diesel.


The biodiesel he is using is not just for him - it is also excellent news for the planet.


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


That indicates that as well as being cleaner and less expensive than routine fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels due to the fact that no extra land is needed to produce it.


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


"Our biodiesel originates from crushing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning - the process of separating the seeds from raw cotton," stated Taher Zavery, managing director of Zaynagro Industries Ltd, the Kitui-based business producing the biodiesel.


"We started 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 regional farmers for watering."


More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have so far invested in 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 progressively irregular weather is ending up being commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rainfall.


The recurring dry spells are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing millions of people in the Horn of Africa to the verge of severe cravings.


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


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


"Only light rainfall is anticipated through June ... and this is not expected to minimize dry spell in impacted areas of Kenya and Somalia," stated the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its newest report.


"Well below-average crop production, poor livestock body conditions, and increased regional food rates are anticipated, which will lower bad homes' access to food."


In Kitui's Kyuso location, the indications are already obvious.


Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as a result of the prolonged drought.


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


Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom depend on rain-fed agriculture, 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 worried.


A small but growing number are shedding their concern of dependence on the weather condition - and investing in irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme launched more than three years earlier.


Neighbouring farmers unite to buy the irrigation system - that 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 month-to-month instalments until the total is paid off. They buy the biodiesel to run the pumps from Zaynagro at 80 shillings a litre.


Farmer Alex Babu Kitheka, 39, stated the biodiesel pump enabled him to water a bigger portion of his one-acre plot, where he grows a range 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," stated Alex Babu Kitheka, standing near his plot in Ilangilo village, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.


CIRCULAR ECONOMY


Other farmers indicate the plan as a major advantage in helping improve their output.


"The instalment plan is great. 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 beside his blue biodiesel pump.


"Having a plan like this assists us a lot. Our yields are good which indicates we can pay off the expense of the pump gradually in little amounts, and have money left over to pay the school fees."


Zaynagro's effort is still in its early stages, with couple of farmers having actually paid back the full cost of the pumps.


But such biofuel schemes are promising since they produce a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for profit, said Sanjoy Sanyal, senior associate for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.


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


"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy alternatives in the world. The crucial issue is testing concepts and methods in a collective fashion," stated Sanyal.


"Other cotton ginning factories in the region should try and find out from this experiment. Banks 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, ladies's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights and environment change. Visit http://news.trust.org)