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 thought it needs to be a joke when he was informed he might irrigate his drought-hit crops more cheaply, easily and efficiently using a pump sustained by cotton waste.

“Who could think it’s possible to make a fuel much better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn’t!” chuckled 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 stated, strolling over to a nearby tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. “Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually assisted me get higher yields, particularly throughout dry spell durations.”

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

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

Unlike many biofuels, which are originated 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 in addition to being cleaner and more affordable than regular fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels because no additional land is needed to produce it.

From Brazil to Indonesia, the rush to cultivate biofuel crops has actually driven forest communities off their land and pressed farmers to switch from crops-for-food to more profitable crops-for-fuel – worsening food lacks.

“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 business producing the biodiesel.

“We began producing and using 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 some of their buses – and also 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, stated Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate modification is taking a toll throughout east Africa and significantly erratic weather condition is becoming commonplace in nations such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rainfall.

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

The variety of Kenyans in requirement of food help in March rose by nearly 70 percent over a period of eight months to 1.1 million, mostly due to poor rains, according to government figures.

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

“Only light rains is forecast through June … and this is not anticipated to reduce 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, bad animals body conditions, and increased local food costs are prepared for, which will reduce bad families’ access to food.”

In Kitui’s Kyuso area, the indications are currently obvious.

Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as an outcome of the extended drought.

Villagers grumble of trekking longer ranges – often more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys loaded with empty jerry cans looking for water.

Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom are reliant on rain-fed farming, go over strategies to offer their goats to make ends satisfy if the harvest is poor.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui’s farmers are stressed.

A little but growing number are shedding their concern of reliance on the weather – and buying watering systems powered by Zaynagro’s cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan launched more than 3 years ago.

Neighbouring farmers unite to purchase the irrigation system – which 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 a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free regular monthly instalments up until the overall 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 allowed him to water a larger part of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety of vegetables including maize, tomatoes, spinach and .

“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 point to the plan as a significant advantage in helping enhance their output.

“The instalment scheme is good. Most farmers don’t have the money and can not easily get a loan to purchase a pump like this,” said Maurice Kitheka Munyoki, 41, as he stood beside his blue biodiesel pump.

“Having a plan like this assists us a lot. Our yields are excellent which means we can pay off the expense of the pump slowly in percentages, and have cash left over to pay the school charges.”

Zaynagro’s initiative 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 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 design – user friendly, robust innovation, guaranteed supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go plan – might help amaze rural Africa, he said.

“There is a mosaic of sustainable energy alternatives worldwide. The crucial concern is testing ideas and techniques in a collaborative style,” stated Sanyal.

“Other cotton ginning factories in the region need to attempt and discover from this experiment. Financial organizations must begin explore loans to groups of farmers. International donors and financiers 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 modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)