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 thought it must be a joke when he was informed he might water 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 inspect 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 close-by tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. “Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually assisted me get greater yields, specifically throughout dry spell durations.”

Mathoka stated his revenues 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 less expensive than regular diesel.

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

Unlike most biofuels, which are derived 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 cheaper 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 neighborhoods off their land and pushed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more successful crops-for-fuel – exacerbating food lacks.

“Our biodiesel originates 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 business producing the biodiesel.

“We started producing and utilizing 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 also to regional farmers for watering.”

More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have up until now purchased biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an initiative launched by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

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

The repeating droughts are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals – pressing people in the Horn of Africa to the edge of extreme hunger.

The number of Kenyans in need of food aid in March surged 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 serious shortage of rain, humanitarian companies are alerting of increased appetite in the months ahead.

“Only light rains is anticipated through June … and this is not expected to alleviate dry spell in affected areas of Kenya and Somalia,” said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its latest report.

“Well below-average crop production, bad livestock body conditions, and increased regional food costs are expected, which will minimize poor homes’ access to food.”

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

Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as a result of the extended drought.

Villagers suffer travelling longer distances – often more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys packed with empty jerry cans looking for water.

Small-scale farmers, many of whom depend on rain-fed agriculture, talk about 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 however growing number are shedding their concern of dependence on the weather – and purchasing irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro’s cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan launched more than three years earlier.

Neighbouring farmers unite to invest in the watering system – which consists of the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipelines and 10 litres of biodiesel – at costs beginning with 32,000 shillings, depending upon the size of the pump.

The farmers make a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free month-to-month instalments 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 irrigate a bigger portion 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 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 advantage in helping enhance their output.

“The instalment scheme 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 beside his blue biodiesel pump.

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

Zaynagro’s effort is still in its early stages, with few farmers having repaid the complete expense of the pumps.

But such biofuel schemes are promising due to the fact that they create 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 simpleness of the model – easy-to-use, robust technology, guaranteed supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go plan – could help energize rural Africa, he stated.

“There is a mosaic of sustainable energy alternatives in the world. The key concern is checking concepts and approaches in a collective style,” said Sanyal.

“Other cotton ginning factories in the area need to attempt and gain from this experiment. Financial organizations should begin exploring with loans to groups of farmers. International donors and investors 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, women’s and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, residential or commercial property rights and environment change. Visit http://news.trust.org)