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 should be a joke when he was told he could water his drought-hit crops more cheaply, easily and efficiently 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, 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, walking over to a close-by tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has assisted me get greater yields, specifically throughout drought durations."


Mathoka said his earnings had doubled in the two 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 simply excellent news for him - it is also great news for the planet.


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


That indicates that in addition to being cleaner and more affordable than routine fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels due to the fact that no additional land is required to produce it.


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


"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 began producing and utilizing it to power our cotton ginning factory in 2011. With increased production, we now utilize it for our trucks, sell it to the United Nations to run a few of their buses - and also to regional farmers for watering."


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


DRY RIVER BEDS


Climate change is taking a toll throughout east Africa and significantly unpredictable weather condition is becoming commonplace in such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rainfall.


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


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


With almost half Kenya's 47 counties declared to have a severe lack of rain, humanitarian firms are warning of increased appetite in the months ahead.


"Only light rainfall is forecast through June ... and this is not expected to relieve dry spell in impacted locations of Kenya and Somalia," stated the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its latest report.


"Well below-average crop production, poor livestock body conditions, and increased local food rates are anticipated, which will decrease poor households' access to food."


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


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


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


Small-scale farmers, most of whom are reliant on rain-fed farming, talk about strategies to sell their goats to make ends fulfill if the harvest is poor.


BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL


But not all Kitui's farmers are stressed.


A little however growing number are shedding their burden of dependence on the weather - and buying irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan introduced more than three years earlier.


Neighbouring farmers unite to buy the watering 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 an initial payment, then pay interest-free month-to-month instalments till the total is settled. They buy 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 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 3 months. With the biodiesel pump, I can earn 45,000 shillings," said Alex Babu Kitheka, standing near his plot in Ilangilo village, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.


CIRCULAR ECONOMY


Other farmers point to the plan as a significant advantage in helping enhance their output.


"The instalment scheme is good. Most farmers don't have the cash and can not easily get a loan to purchase a pump like this," stated 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 excellent which indicates we can pay off the cost of the pump gradually in percentages, and have cash left over to pay the school costs."


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


But such biofuel schemes are promising because they develop 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, ensured supply of biodiesel combined with a pay-as-you-go scheme - could help energize rural Africa, he stated.


"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy alternatives worldwide. The essential issue is evaluating concepts and methods in a collective style," stated Sanyal.


"Other cotton ginning factories in the area need to attempt and gain from this experiment. Financial institutions need to begin explore 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, residential or commercial property rights and climate modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)