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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 believed it should be a joke when he was told he could irrigate his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, cleanly and effectively using a pump sustained by cotton waste.

“Who could think it’s possible to make a fuel better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn’t!” laughed Mathoka, bending down to examine 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 large green pawpaw. “Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has assisted me get greater yields, especially during drought periods.”

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

The biodiesel he is utilizing is not simply excellent news for him – it is likewise excellent 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 by-product of the cotton-making process.

That indicates that as well as being cleaner and less expensive than routine fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels since no additional land is needed to produce it.

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

“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 business producing the biodiesel.

“We began 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 a few of their buses – and likewise to local farmers for irrigation.”

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

DRY RIVER BEDS

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

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

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

With practically half Kenya’s 47 counties stated to have a major scarcity of rain, humanitarian firms are alerting of increased hunger in the months ahead.

“Only light rainfall is forecast 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 most current report.

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

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

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

Villagers experience trekking longer distances – often more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys packed with empty jerry cans in search of water.

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

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui’s farmers are stressed.

A small but growing number are shedding their burden of reliance on the weather – and buying irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro’s cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme introduced more than 3 years back.

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

The farmers make a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free month-to-month instalments up until the overall is paid off. They buy the biodiesel to run the pumps from Zaynagro at 80 shillings a litre.

Babu Kitheka, 39, stated the biodiesel pump permitted him to irrigate a bigger 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 three months. With the biodiesel pump, I can make 45,000 shillings,” said Alex Babu Kitheka, standing near his plot in Ilangilo village, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Other farmers indicate the plan as a major benefit in assisting enhance their output.

“The instalment plan is good. Most farmers don’t have the cash and can not easily get a loan to purchase a pump like this,” stated 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 great which implies we can settle the cost of the pump gradually in percentages, and have money left over to pay the school fees.”

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

But such biofuel plans are appealing since they produce a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for profit, said Sanjoy Sanyal, senior associate for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

The simpleness of the design – user friendly, robust innovation, ensured supply of biodiesel combined with a pay-as-you-go plan – could assist amaze rural Africa, he said.

“There is a mosaic of sustainable energy choices on the planet. The essential concern is testing concepts and techniques in a collaborative style,” stated Sanyal.

“Other cotton ginning factories in the region ought to try and find out from this experiment. Financial organizations need to 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, home rights and climate modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)

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