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 believed it should be a joke when he was told he could water his drought-hit crops more cheaply, easily and efficiently utilizing a pump sustained by .

“Who could think 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 village in Kenya’s southeast Kitui county.

“But it works,” he said, walking over to a nearby tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. “Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has helped me get greater yields, particularly throughout drought durations.”

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

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

Unlike most 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 in addition to being cleaner and cheaper than regular fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels since no extra 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 lucrative crops-for-fuel – worsening food lacks.

“Our biodiesel originates 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 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 local farmers for watering.”

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

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate modification is taking a toll across east Africa and increasingly unpredictable 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 – pressing millions of individuals in the Horn of Africa to the edge of extreme appetite.

The variety of Kenyans in need of food help in March surged by almost 70 percent over a period 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 serious shortage of rain, humanitarian agencies are warning of increased hunger in the months ahead.

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

“Well below-average crop production, bad livestock body conditions, and increased local 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 an outcome of the extended dry spell.

Villagers suffer trekking longer distances – 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 are reliant on rain-fed agriculture, talk about strategies 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 little however growing number are shedding their burden of reliance on the weather condition – and purchasing irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro’s cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan launched more than three years ago.

Neighbouring farmers unite to invest in the watering system – which includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel – at costs starting from 32,000 shillings, depending upon the size of the pump.

The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free monthly instalments till 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, stated the biodiesel pump allowed him to irrigate a bigger portion 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 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 point to the scheme as a major benefit in assisting enhance their output.

“The instalment scheme is excellent. Most farmers don’t have the money and can not quickly get a loan to purchase 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 indicates we can settle the expense of the pump slowly in little quantities, and have money left over to pay the school costs.”

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

But such biofuel schemes are appealing due to the fact that they develop a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for revenue, said Sanjoy Sanyal, senior associate for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

The simplicity of the design – user friendly, robust technology, ensured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go plan – could help energize rural Africa, he stated.

“There is a mosaic of sustainable energy alternatives in the world. The crucial problem is checking concepts and methods in a collective style,” said Sanyal.

“Other cotton ginning factories in the area must attempt and gain from this experiment. Financial organizations need to 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, ladies’s and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)