Cotton Waste Biofuel Powers Farmers To Fight Drought In Kenya

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 told he could water 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 much better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn't!" chuckled Mathoka, bending down to check 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 big green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has assisted me get higher yields, particularly during dry spell durations."


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


The biodiesel he is utilizing is not simply excellent news for him - it is also excellent news for the planet.


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


That implies that along with being cleaner and less expensive than routine 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 successful crops-for-fuel - lacks.


"Our biodiesel originates from squashing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning - the procedure of separating the seeds from raw cotton," said Taher Zavery, managing director of Zaynagro Industries Ltd, the Kitui-based business 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, offer it to the United Nations to run a few of their buses - and likewise to regional farmers for irrigation."


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


DRY RIVER BEDS


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


The recurring droughts are ruining crops and pastures and are starving animals - pushing countless people in the Horn of Africa to the verge of extreme cravings.


The variety of Kenyans in need of food help in March rose by practically 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 major lack 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 alleviate drought in affected areas of Kenya and Somalia," stated the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its most current report.


"Well below-average crop production, poor animals body conditions, and increased regional food rates are prepared for, which will reduce bad homes' access to food."


In Kitui's Kyuso area, the indications are currently apparent.


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


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


Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom are dependent on rain-fed agriculture, talk about 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 but growing number are shedding their burden of dependence on the weather - and purchasing irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan introduced more than three years earlier.


Neighbouring farmers band together to purchase the watering system - which consists of the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at costs beginning with 32,000 shillings, depending on the size of the pump.


The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free monthly instalments up until the overall is settled. They buy 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 larger portion of his one-acre plot, where he grows a range 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 town, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.


CIRCULAR ECONOMY


Other farmers point to the scheme as a major advantage in helping enhance their output.


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


Zaynagro's effort is still in its early phases, with couple of farmers having repaid the complete expense of the pumps.


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


The simplicity of the design - user friendly, robust innovation, ensured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go scheme - could assist amaze rural Africa, he said.


"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options on the planet. The essential problem is checking concepts and techniques in a collaborative fashion," said Sanyal.


"Other cotton ginning factories in the area should attempt and find out from this experiment. Banks must begin explore loans to groups of farmers. International donors and financiers 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, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, residential or commercial property rights and climate modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)