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 informed he might 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 better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn’t!” laughed Mathoka, crouching down to check the watermelons on his 10-acre (four-hectare) shared plot in Ituri town in Kenya’s southeast Kitui county.

“But it works,” he said, walking over to a neighboring tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. “Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually assisted me get greater yields, especially during dry spell durations.”

Mathoka said his revenues 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 more affordable than regular diesel.

The biodiesel he is utilizing is not just great news for him – it is also good news for the planet.

Unlike most 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 procedure.

That means that as well as being cleaner and more affordable than routine 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 pressed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more successful crops-for-fuel – worsening food lacks.

“Our biodiesel comes from squashing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning – the process of separating the seeds from raw cotton,” said Taher Zavery, handling director of Zaynagro Industries Ltd, the Kitui-based company 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, sell 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 so far invested in biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an initiative launched by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate change is taking a toll across east Africa and significantly unpredictable weather condition is becoming commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rainfall.

The repeating droughts are damaging crops and pastures and are starving animals – pushing countless individuals in the Horn of Africa to the brink of extreme appetite.

The number of Kenyans in requirement of food help in March rose by practically 70 percent over a period of 8 months to 1.1 million, mostly due to poor rains, according to federal government figures.

With practically half Kenya’s 47 counties stated to have a serious shortage of rain, humanitarian companies are warning of increased appetite in the months ahead.

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

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

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

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

Villagers complain of travelling longer distances – sometimes more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys loaded 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 satisfy if the harvest is poor.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui’s farmers are fretted.

A little however growing number are shedding their burden of dependence on the weather – and purchasing watering systems powered by Zaynagro’s cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme released more than 3 years back.

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 starting from 32,000 shillings, depending on the size of the pump.

The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free monthly instalments until the total 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 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 point to the scheme as a major benefit in assisting enhance their output.

“The instalment plan is good. Most farmers don’t have the money and can not quickly get a loan to buy a pump like this,” stated 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 excellent which means we can settle the cost of the pump gradually in small quantities, and have cash left over to pay the school costs.”

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

But such biofuel plans are promising because they develop a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for earnings, stated Sanjoy Sanyal, senior associate for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

The simplicity of the model – user friendly, robust innovation, guaranteed supply of biodiesel combined with a pay-as-you-go plan – might assist amaze rural Africa, he stated.

“There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options in the world. The crucial issue is checking ideas and techniques in a collective fashion,” said Sanyal.

“Other cotton ginning factories in the region ought to try and learn from this experiment. Banks should start explore 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, females’s and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights and environment change. Visit http://news.trust.org)