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 told he could irrigate his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, easily and efficiently utilizing 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 village in Kenya's southeast Kitui county.

"But it works," he said, strolling over to a close-by tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually assisted me get higher yields, specifically during drought periods."

Mathoka stated his incomes had actually 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 less expensive than regular diesel.

The biodiesel he is using is not simply great news for him - it is also great news for the world.

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 process.

That indicates that along with being cleaner and cheaper than routine fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels since no additional land is required to produce it.

From Brazil to Indonesia, the rush to cultivate biofuel crops has driven forest neighborhoods off their land and pushed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more profitable crops-for-fuel - exacerbating food lacks.

"Our biodiesel originates from crushing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning - the process of separating the seeds from raw cotton," stated Taher Zavery, handling 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 utilize 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 actually so far bought biodiesel pumps for watering as part of an effort launched by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate change is taking a toll throughout east Africa and increasingly unpredictable weather condition is becoming commonplace in nations such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rains.

The recurring dry spells are ruining crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing millions of individuals in the Horn of Africa to the edge of extreme appetite.

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

With practically half Kenya's 47 counties declared to have a major shortage of rain, humanitarian firms are alerting of increased cravings in the months ahead.

"Only light rains is anticipated through June ... and this is not expected to reduce drought in impacted areas of Kenya and Somalia," stated the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its most current report.

"Well below-average crop production, poor animals body conditions, and increased local food costs are anticipated, which will lower poor homes' access to food."

In Kitui's Kyuso area, the signs are currently evident.

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

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, most of whom depend on rain-fed agriculture, go over strategies to sell their goats to make ends meet if the harvest is poor.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui's farmers are stressed.

A little however growing number are shedding their burden of reliance on the weather condition - and buying irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan launched more than three years ago.

Neighbouring farmers unite to purchase the watering system - which consists of the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipelines 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 total is settled. They purchase 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 water a larger part of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety of veggies consisting of 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 town, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Other farmers point to the plan as a major benefit in helping enhance their output.

"The instalment plan is good. Most farmers do not 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 assists us a lot. Our yields are good which means we can pay off the expense of the pump slowly in little quantities, and have money left over to pay the school charges."

Zaynagro's initiative is still in its early phases, with couple of farmers having actually paid back the full expense of the pumps.

But such biofuel schemes are appealing due to the fact that 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 - easy-to-use, robust technology, guaranteed supply of biodiesel combined with a pay-as-you-go scheme - could assist energize rural Africa, he stated.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options in the world. The essential problem is evaluating concepts and techniques in a collective fashion," stated Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the region ought to attempt and find out from this experiment. Financial institutions ought to begin explore 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, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, residential or commercial property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)