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 informed he could water his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, easily and efficiently utilizing a pump fuelled by cotton waste.


"Who could believe it's possible to make a fuel much 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 Kenya's southeast Kitui county.


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


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


The biodiesel he is utilizing is not just excellent news for him - it is also 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 suggests that as well as being cleaner and cheaper 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 pushed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more lucrative crops-for-fuel - intensifying food lacks.


"Our biodiesel comes from crushing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning - the procedure of separating the seeds from raw cotton," said Taher Zavery, handling director of Zaynagro Industries Ltd, the Kitui-based business 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 likewise to local farmers for irrigation."


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


DRY RIVER BEDS


Climate modification is taking a toll across east Africa and progressively unpredictable weather condition is becoming commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rains.


The repeating dry spells are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals - pushing countless people in the Horn of Africa to the edge of severe hunger.


The number of Kenyans in need of food aid in March surged by nearly 70 percent over a period of 8 months to 1.1 million, largely due to poor rains, according to federal government figures.


With nearly half Kenya's 47 counties stated to have a major lack of rain, humanitarian firms are cautioning of increased cravings in the months ahead.


"Only light rainfall is anticipated through June ... and this is not expected to ease drought in affected areas of Kenya and Somalia," said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its most current report.


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


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


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


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


Small-scale farmers, most of whom depend on rain-fed farming, discuss plans to offer their goats to make ends satisfy 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 problem of reliance on the weather - and purchasing watering systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan introduced more than three years back.


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


The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free month-to-month 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, said the biodiesel pump permitted him to water a bigger portion of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety of vegetables 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 make 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 scheme as a significant benefit in assisting enhance their output.


"The instalment plan is excellent. Most farmers don't 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 great which indicates we can pay off the expense of the pump gradually in percentages, and have money left over to pay the school fees."


Zaynagro's initiative is still in its early stages, with few farmers having repaid the full cost of the pumps.


But such biofuel schemes are appealing because they produce a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for revenue, stated Sanjoy Sanyal, senior partner for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.


The simpleness of the design - easy-to-use, robust technology, ensured supply of biodiesel combined with a pay-as-you-go scheme - might help energize rural Africa, he stated.


"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy alternatives worldwide. The crucial concern is checking ideas and techniques in a collective fashion," said Sanyal.


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