mission-biofuels-sdn.-bhd

By Nita Bhalla

KITUI, Kenya, June 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Kenyan farmer Abel Mutie Mathoka thought it needs to be a joke when he was told he might irrigate his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, easily and efficiently utilizing 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!" laughed Mathoka, crouching 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 said, strolling over to a neighboring tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually assisted me get greater yields, especially during dry spell periods."

Mathoka stated his profits had actually doubled in the 2 years he has actually been pumping water using biodiesel, which is both more efficient and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre less expensive than regular diesel.

The biodiesel he is utilizing is not simply good news 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 by-product of the cotton-making process.

That indicates that along with being cleaner and cheaper than regular fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels due to the fact that no additional land is needed to produce it.

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

"Our biodiesel originates 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 started 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 actually so far invested in biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an effort released by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

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

The repeating dry spells are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing countless people in the Horn of Africa to the brink of extreme appetite.

The number of Kenyans in requirement of food aid in March rose by practically 70 percent over a duration of eight months to 1.1 million, mainly 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 agencies are cautioning of increased cravings in the months ahead.

"Only light rains is anticipated through June ... and this is not anticipated to ease dry spell in impacted areas of Kenya and Somalia," said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its most current report.

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

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

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

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

Small-scale farmers, most of whom depend on rain-fed agriculture, talk about plans to sell their goats to make ends fulfill if the harvest is bad.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui's farmers are fretted.

A small but growing number are shedding their concern of reliance on the weather - and investing in irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan introduced more than 3 years earlier.

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

The farmers make a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free month-to-month instalments up until the overall 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 permitted him to irrigate a larger part of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety 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 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 indicate the scheme as a significant benefit in helping enhance their output.

"The instalment plan is great. 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 plan like this helps us a lot. Our yields are excellent which indicates we can pay off the expense of the pump slowly in little amounts, and have money left over to pay the school costs."

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

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

The simpleness of the model - easy-to-use, robust innovation, assured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go plan - could assist amaze rural Africa, he stated.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options on the planet. The essential concern is testing concepts and approaches in a collaborative style," stated Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the area ought to attempt and discover from this experiment. Banks ought to start 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, and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, home rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)