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 told he might irrigate his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, cleanly 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!” chuckled 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 stated, strolling over to a nearby tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. “Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually helped me get higher yields, especially during drought durations.”

Mathoka said his profits had actually doubled in the 2 years he has 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 simply great news for him – it is also good news for the planet.

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

That means that as well as being cleaner and more affordable than regular fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels due to the fact that no extra 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 change from crops-for-food to more lucrative crops-for-fuel – worsening food shortages.

“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 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 also to local farmers for watering.”

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, said Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

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

The repeating droughts are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals – pushing countless people in the Horn of Africa to the verge of extreme cravings.

The variety of Kenyans in requirement of food help in March rose by nearly 70 percent over a duration of 8 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 major scarcity of rain, humanitarian agencies are warning of increased appetite in the months ahead.

“Only light rainfall is forecast through June … and this is not anticipated to relieve dry spell in affected locations of Kenya and Somalia,” said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its newest report.

“Well below-average crop production, poor animals body conditions, and increased regional food prices are expected, which will minimize poor families’ access to food.”

In Kitui’s Kyuso location, the signs are currently evident.

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

Villagers experience travelling longer distances – often more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys packed with empty jerry cans searching for water.

Small-scale farmers, many of whom depend on rain-fed agriculture, talk about strategies to sell their goats to make ends satisfy if the harvest is poor.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui’s farmers are worried.

A little however growing number are shedding their burden of dependence on the weather condition – and investing in irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro’s cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme more than three years back.

Neighbouring farmers unite to purchase the irrigation system – which includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipelines and 10 litres of biodiesel – at expenses starting from 32,000 shillings, depending on the size of the pump.

The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free monthly instalments till 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, said the biodiesel pump permitted him to water a larger portion 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 earn 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 plan as a significant benefit in assisting enhance their output.

“The instalment plan is good. Most farmers do not have the money and can not easily get a loan to buy a pump like this,” stated Maurice Kitheka Munyoki, 41, as he stood beside his blue biodiesel pump.

“Having a plan like this helps us a lot. Our yields are great which means we can settle the cost of the pump slowly in little quantities, and have cash left over to pay the school charges.”

Zaynagro’s initiative is still in its early stages, with couple of farmers having paid back the complete expense of the pumps.

But such biofuel plans are promising due to the fact that they develop a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for profit, stated Sanjoy Sanyal, senior associate for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

The simpleness of the design – user friendly, robust innovation, assured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go plan – could assist electrify rural Africa, he stated.

“There is a mosaic of sustainable energy alternatives in the world. The essential concern is checking concepts and approaches in a collaborative fashion,” said Sanyal.

“Other cotton ginning factories in the region should attempt and gain from this experiment. Financial institutions must begin try out loans to groups of farmers. International donors and investors 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, home rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)