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, cleanly and effectively utilizing a pump sustained by cotton waste.

«Who could think it’s possible to make a fuel better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn’t!» chuckled Mathoka, down to examine 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 neighboring tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. «Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has assisted me get greater yields, specifically throughout dry spell periods.»

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

The biodiesel he is using is not simply excellent news for him – it is likewise good news for the world.

Unlike the majority 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 procedure.

That means that along with being cleaner and less expensive than regular fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels since 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 pressed farmers to switch from crops-for-food to more successful crops-for-fuel – intensifying food lacks.

«Our biodiesel comes 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 using 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 watering.»

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

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate change is taking a toll across east Africa and significantly erratic weather is ending up being commonplace in nations such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rains.

The recurring droughts are ruining crops and pastures and are starving animals – pushing millions of people in the Horn of Africa to the edge of severe appetite.

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

With almost half Kenya’s 47 counties stated to have a severe scarcity of rain, humanitarian companies are cautioning of increased hunger in the months ahead.

«Only light rainfall is forecast through June … and this is not expected to alleviate dry spell in impacted areas of Kenya and Somalia,» said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its newest report.

«Well below-average crop production, poor livestock body conditions, and increased regional food rates are expected, which will reduce poor families’ access to food.»

In Kitui’s Kyuso area, the signs are already evident.

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

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

Small-scale farmers, many of whom are dependent on rain-fed farming, go over 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 problem of reliance on the weather condition – and buying watering systems powered by Zaynagro’s cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme released more than 3 years back.

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

The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free month-to-month instalments until the total 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 enabled him to water a larger portion of his one-acre plot, where he grows a range 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,» stated Alex Babu Kitheka, standing near his plot in Ilangilo town, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Other farmers indicate the scheme as a major advantage in assisting enhance their output.

«The instalment scheme is great. Most farmers do not have the cash and can not easily get a loan to purchase a pump like this,» stated Maurice Kitheka Munyoki, 41, as he stood beside his blue biodiesel pump.

«Having a scheme like this helps us a lot. Our yields are excellent which implies we can settle the expense of the pump slowly in percentages, and have cash left over to pay the school fees.»

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

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

The simpleness of the model – easy-to-use, robust innovation, assured supply of biodiesel combined with a pay-as-you-go plan – might help electrify rural Africa, he stated.

«There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options worldwide. The crucial concern is checking concepts and techniques in a collective fashion,» stated Sanyal.

«Other cotton ginning factories in the region should attempt and find out from this experiment. Financial institutions need to begin 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, females’s and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights and environment change. Visit http://news.trust.org)