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 must be a joke when he was told he might water his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, cleanly and efficiently using 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 stated, walking over to a neighboring tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. “Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has assisted me get higher yields, particularly during dry spell periods.”

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

The biodiesel he is using is not simply excellent news for him – it is also great news for the planet.

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

That implies that as well as being cleaner and more affordable than routine fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels since no extra land is needed to produce it.

From Brazil to Indonesia, the rush to cultivate biofuel crops has driven forest neighborhoods off their land and pushed farmers to switch from crops-for-food to more successful crops-for-fuel – worsening food shortages.

“Our biodiesel comes from crushing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning – the process of separating the seeds from raw cotton,” stated Taher Zavery, handling director of Zaynagro Industries Ltd, the Kitui-based company producing the biodiesel.

“We started producing and utilizing it to power our cotton ginning factory in 2011. With increased production, we now utilize it for our trucks, sell it to the United Nations to run a few of their buses – and also to regional farmers for watering.”

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

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate modification is taking a toll across east Africa and progressively erratic weather is becoming commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to .

The repeating dry spells are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals – pressing millions of people in the Horn of Africa to the brink of severe cravings.

The number of Kenyans in requirement of food help in March surged by almost 70 percent over a period of 8 months to 1.1 million, largely due to bad rains, according to federal government figures.

With practically half Kenya’s 47 counties declared to have a severe scarcity of rain, humanitarian agencies are warning of increased cravings in the months ahead.

“Only light rains is forecast through June … and this is not anticipated to alleviate drought in impacted locations of Kenya and Somalia,” said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its newest report.

“Well below-average crop production, bad animals body conditions, and increased regional food rates are anticipated, which will decrease bad families’ access to food.”

In Kitui’s Kyuso location, the signs are already obvious.

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

Villagers experience travelling longer distances – sometimes more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys loaded with empty jerry cans looking for water.

Small-scale farmers, many of whom are reliant on rain-fed farming, talk about plans to sell their goats to make ends meet if the harvest is bad.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui’s farmers are worried.

A small but growing number are shedding their problem of dependence on the weather – and investing in watering systems powered by Zaynagro’s cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme launched more than 3 years earlier.

Neighbouring farmers band together to invest in the irrigation system – which includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel – at costs beginning with 32,000 shillings, depending upon the size of the pump.

The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free regular monthly instalments up until the overall is settled. They buy 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 larger part of his one-acre plot, where he grows a range of veggies 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 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 indicate the scheme as a major advantage in assisting improve their output.

“The instalment scheme is excellent. Most farmers do not have the cash and can not easily 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 assists us a lot. Our yields are good which implies we can pay off the cost of the pump slowly in percentages, and have cash left over to pay the school fees.”

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

But such biofuel plans are promising due to the fact that they produce 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 model – user friendly, robust technology, ensured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go scheme – might assist electrify rural Africa, he said.

“There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options in the world. The essential concern is testing ideas and techniques in a collective style,” stated Sanyal.

“Other cotton ginning factories in the region must attempt and discover from this experiment. Banks ought to begin experimenting with 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, females’s and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights and environment change. Visit http://news.trust.org)