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Cotton Waste Biofuel Powers Farmers to Combat Drought In Kenya

Tarah Arnett edited this page 2025-01-12 06:03:31 +00:00

By Nita Bhalla

KITUI, Kenya, June 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Kenyan farmer Abel Mutie Mathoka believed it must be a joke when he was told he could irrigate his drought-hit crops more cheaply, 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!" chuckled Mathoka, bending down to inspect the watermelons on his 10-acre (four-hectare) shared plot in Ituri village in Kenya's southeast Kitui county.

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

Mathoka stated his earnings had actually doubled in the 2 years he has 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 utilizing is not just great news for him - it is likewise good news for the planet.

Unlike many biofuels, which are stemmed from crops such as maize, sugarcane, soybean, rapeseed and jatropha, it is made from a by-product of the cotton-making process.

That indicates that as well as being cleaner and cheaper than routine fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels because no extra land is needed to produce it.

From Brazil to Indonesia, the rush to cultivate biofuel crops has driven forest neighborhoods off their land and pushed farmers to switch from crops-for-food to more lucrative crops-for-fuel - worsening 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 began producing and utilizing it to power our cotton ginning factory in 2011. With increased production, we now utilize it for our trucks, sell it to the United Nations to run some of their buses - and likewise to regional farmers for irrigation."

More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have actually so far 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 across east Africa and significantly erratic weather condition is becoming commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rains.

The recurring droughts are damaging crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing countless people in the Horn of Africa to the brink of extreme appetite.

The variety of Kenyans in requirement of food aid in March surged by practically 70 percent over a duration of 8 months to 1.1 million, mostly due to bad rains, according to federal government figures.

With nearly half Kenya's 47 counties declared to have a severe scarcity of rain, humanitarian companies are warning of increased cravings in the months ahead.

"Only light rainfall is anticipated through June ... and this is not anticipated to minimize dry spell in affected locations of Kenya and Somalia," said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its most .

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

In Kitui's Kyuso location, the signs are already apparent.

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

Villagers experience travelling longer distances - sometimes more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys packed with empty jerry cans looking for water.

Small-scale farmers, most of whom are reliant on rain-fed farming, go over strategies 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 problem of dependence on the weather - and purchasing irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan released more than three years back.

Neighbouring farmers band together to invest in the irrigation system - that includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at expenses 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 purchase the biodiesel to run the pumps from Zaynagro at 80 shillings a litre.

Farmer Alex Babu Kitheka, 39, stated the biodiesel pump permitted him to water a bigger part of his one-acre plot, where he grows a range 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 earn 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 plan is great. Most farmers do not have the cash 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 good which implies we can settle the cost of the pump slowly in percentages, and have cash left over to pay the school charges."

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

But such biofuel schemes are promising because they produce a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for revenue, said Sanjoy Sanyal, senior partner for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

The simplicity of the model - user friendly, robust technology, assured supply of biodiesel combined with a pay-as-you-go scheme - could help electrify rural Africa, he stated.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options worldwide. The essential issue is testing ideas and approaches in a collective style," stated Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the area must try and gain from this experiment. Banks must start 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, property rights and environment change. Visit http://news.trust.org)