Cotton Waste Biofuel Powers Farmers to Eliminate Drought In Kenya

By Nita Bhalla

KITUI, Kenya, June 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Kenyan farmer Abel Mutie Mathoka thought it must be a joke when he was informed he might irrigate his drought-hit crops more cheaply, cleanly and effectively utilizing a pump sustained by cotton waste.

«Who could believe it’s possible to make a fuel better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn’t!» chuckled Mathoka, bending 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 close-by tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. «Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has assisted me get higher yields, especially throughout drought periods.»

Mathoka stated his earnings had doubled in the 2 years he has actually been pumping water utilizing biodiesel, which is both more effective and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre cheaper than routine diesel.

The biodiesel he is using is not just great news for him – it is likewise good news for the planet.

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

That suggests that along with being cleaner and more affordable than routine fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels because 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 pressed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more profitable crops-for-fuel – worsening food scarcities.

«Our biodiesel comes from crushing 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 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 a few of their buses – and also to local farmers for irrigation.»

More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have actually up until now bought biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an effort released by Zaynagro in 2015, stated Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate modification is taking a toll across east Africa and increasingly unpredictable weather is becoming commonplace in nations such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to 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 brink of extreme cravings.

The number of Kenyans in need of food help in March rose by practically 70 percent over a period of eight months to 1.1 million, mainly due to bad rains, according to government figures.

With practically half Kenya’s 47 declared to have a major lack of rain, humanitarian agencies are cautioning of increased hunger in the months ahead.

«Only light rains is forecast through June … and this is not anticipated to alleviate drought in affected locations 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 local food rates are expected, which will reduce bad families’ access to food.»

In Kitui’s Kyuso area, the signs are currently apparent.

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

Villagers suffer travelling 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 farming, talk about 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 little but growing number are shedding their concern of dependence on the weather – and investing in watering systems powered by Zaynagro’s cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan released more than 3 years ago.

Neighbouring farmers band together to purchase the irrigation system – that includes 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 a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free monthly instalments until 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, stated the biodiesel pump enabled him to water a bigger part of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety 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 3 months. With the biodiesel pump, I can make 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 point to the plan as a major advantage in helping improve their output.

«The instalment plan is good. Most farmers do not have the cash and can not easily get a loan to buy a pump like this,» said 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 suggests we can settle the cost of the pump gradually in percentages, and have money left over to pay the school costs.»

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

But such biofuel plans are promising since they create 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 model – user friendly, robust innovation, ensured supply of biodiesel combined with a pay-as-you-go scheme – might assist energize rural Africa, he stated.

«There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options on the planet. The key problem is testing ideas and approaches in a collective style,» said Sanyal.

«Other cotton ginning factories in the area must attempt and gain from this experiment. Financial institutions must start experimenting with 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 environment change. Visit http://news.trust.org)