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 could irrigate his drought-hit crops more cheaply, cleanly and effectively 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, 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 said, walking over to a nearby tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually assisted me get higher yields, especially during drought periods."
Mathoka said his profits had actually doubled in the two years he has actually been pumping water using biodiesel, which is both more efficient and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre cheaper than regular diesel.
The biodiesel he is utilizing is not simply excellent news for him - it is also good 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 implies that in addition to being cleaner and cheaper 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 driven forest communities off their land and pushed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more profitable crops-for-fuel - exacerbating food shortages.
"Our biodiesel comes 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 use it for our trucks, sell it to the United Nations to run some of their buses - and likewise to regional farmers for irrigation."
More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have actually so far bought biodiesel pumps for watering as part of an effort released by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.
DRY RIVER BEDS
Climate change is taking a toll throughout east Africa and significantly irregular weather condition is becoming commonplace in nations such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rainfall.
The recurring droughts are damaging crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing millions of people in the Horn of Africa to the brink of extreme hunger.
The number of Kenyans in requirement of food aid in March rose by nearly 70 percent over a period of eight months to 1.1 million, mostly due to bad rains, according to government figures.
With nearly half Kenya's 47 counties stated to have a severe scarcity of rain, humanitarian firms are alerting of increased hunger in the months ahead.
"Only light rainfall is anticipated through June ... and this is not expected to alleviate drought in affected areas of Kenya and Somalia," said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its latest report.
"Well below-average crop production, bad animals body conditions, and increased local food prices are expected, which will minimize bad households' access to food."
In Kitui's Kyuso location, the indications are already evident.
Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as a result of the prolonged dry spell.
Villagers grumble of travelling longer ranges - in some cases more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys packed with empty jerry cans in search of water.
Small-scale farmers, most of whom depend on rain-fed agriculture, discuss plans to offer their goats to make ends fulfill 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 concern of dependence on the weather - and investing in watering systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme released more than three years earlier.
Neighbouring farmers band together to invest in the irrigation system - that includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at costs 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 till the total is paid off. They buy the to run the pumps from Zaynagro at 80 shillings a litre.
Farmer Alex Babu Kitheka, 39, said the biodiesel pump allowed 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 three months. With the biodiesel pump, I can earn 45,000 shillings," said Alex Babu Kitheka, standing near his plot in Ilangilo town, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Other farmers point to the plan as a significant benefit in helping improve their output.
"The instalment plan is great. Most farmers do not have the cash and can not easily get a loan to buy a pump like this," stated Maurice Kitheka Munyoki, 41, as he stood next to his blue biodiesel pump.
"Having a scheme like this assists us a lot. Our yields are great which suggests we can pay off the expense of the pump gradually in percentages, and have money left over to pay the school charges."
Zaynagro's effort is still in its early phases, with couple of farmers having repaid the full expense of the pumps.
But such biofuel schemes are appealing because they develop a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for earnings, stated Sanjoy Sanyal, senior partner for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.
The simplicity of the design - user friendly, robust innovation, guaranteed supply of biodiesel combined with a pay-as-you-go plan - might assist energize rural Africa, he stated.
"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy choices on the planet. The essential concern is evaluating concepts and methods in a collaborative fashion," stated Sanyal.
"Other cotton ginning factories in the region must attempt and gain from this experiment. Banks need to start explore 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, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights and climate modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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Cotton Waste Biofuel Powers Farmers to Fight Drought In Kenya
Jolene Given edited this page 2025-01-18 07:10:54 +01:00