Cotton Waste Biofuel Powers Farmers to Combat Drought In Kenya

By Nita Bhalla

KITUI, Kenya, June 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Kenyan farmer Abel Mutie Mathoka thought it should be a joke when he was told he could water his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, easily and efficiently using 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!” chuckled Mathoka, bending down to check the watermelons on his 10-acre (four-hectare) shared plot in Ituri village in Kenya’s southeast Kitui county.

“But it works,” he stated, walking over to a nearby tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. “Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually helped me get greater yields, specifically throughout dry spell durations.”

Mathoka said his incomes had doubled in the 2 years he has actually been pumping water using biodiesel, which is both more effective and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre cheaper than routine diesel.

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

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

That indicates that along with being cleaner and more affordable than regular 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 actually driven forest communities off their land and pushed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more lucrative crops-for-fuel – exacerbating food lacks.

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

“We started producing and using it to power our cotton ginning factory in 2011. With increased production, we now use it for our trucks, offer it to the United Nations to run some of their buses – and likewise to local farmers for irrigation.”

More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have up until now invested in biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an effort released by Zaynagro in 2015, stated Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate modification is taking a toll across east Africa and progressively unpredictable weather is becoming commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rains.

The recurring dry spells are ruining crops and pastures and are starving animals – pushing millions of individuals in the Horn of Africa to the edge of severe appetite.

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

With nearly half Kenya’s 47 counties declared to have a major lack of rain, humanitarian firms are cautioning of increased cravings in the months ahead.

“Only light rainfall is anticipated through June … and this is not anticipated to minimize drought in affected areas of Kenya and Somalia,” stated the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its newest report.

“Well below-average crop production, poor animals body conditions, and increased regional food costs are prepared for, which will reduce poor homes’ access to food.”

In Kitui’s Kyuso area, the indications are already evident.

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

Villagers grumble of trekking longer distances – in some cases more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys loaded with empty jerry cans in search of water.

Small-scale farmers, most of whom depend on rain-fed agriculture, discuss plans to sell their goats to make ends satisfy if the harvest is bad.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui’s farmers are worried.

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 scheme launched more than 3 years earlier.

Neighbouring farmers band together to buy the watering system – that includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel – at costs beginning with 32,000 shillings, depending on the size of the pump.

The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free month-to-month instalments till the total is settled. They purchase the biodiesel to run the pumps from Zaynagro at 80 a litre.

Farmer Alex Babu Kitheka, 39, stated the biodiesel pump enabled him to water a bigger part 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 3 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 scheme as a significant advantage in assisting improve their output.

“The instalment scheme is excellent. Most farmers don’t have the cash 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 scheme like this assists us a lot. Our yields are excellent which means we can settle the cost of the pump gradually in small quantities, and have cash left over to pay the school charges.”

Zaynagro’s initiative is still in its early stages, with few farmers having paid back the full cost of the pumps.

But such biofuel schemes are appealing since 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 simpleness of the design – easy-to-use, robust innovation, ensured supply of biodiesel combined with a pay-as-you-go plan – might assist electrify rural Africa, he said.

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

“Other cotton ginning factories in the area ought to attempt and find out from this experiment. Financial organizations need to begin exploring 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, ladies’s and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, home rights and environment modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)