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 effectively utilizing a pump sustained by cotton waste.

"Who could think it's possible to make a fuel much better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn't!" chuckled 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 stated, strolling over to a nearby tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually assisted me get greater yields, particularly during dry spell periods."

Mathoka said his revenues had actually doubled in the 2 years he has actually been pumping water utilizing 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 simply excellent news for him - it is likewise good news for the planet.

Unlike the majority of 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 means that along with being cleaner and less expensive than routine fuel, it is more than other biofuels due to the fact that 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 pressed farmers to switch from crops-for-food to more lucrative crops-for-fuel - exacerbating food scarcities.

"Our biodiesel comes from crushing 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 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 some of their buses - and also to regional farmers for irrigation."

More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have actually up until now bought 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 progressively irregular weather is ending up being commonplace in nations such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rainfall.

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

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

With almost half Kenya's 47 counties stated to have a serious lack of rain, humanitarian companies are cautioning of increased cravings in the months ahead.

"Only light rains is forecast through June ... and this is not anticipated to minimize drought in affected locations of Kenya and Somalia," stated the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its newest report.

"Well below-average crop production, bad animals body conditions, and increased regional food rates are prepared for, which will lower poor families' access to food."

In Kitui's Kyuso location, the indications are already evident.

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

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

Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom are dependent on rain-fed agriculture, go over strategies to sell their goats to make ends meet if the harvest is bad.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui's farmers are stressed.

A little but growing number are shedding their burden of dependence on the weather - and buying watering systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan released more than 3 years earlier.

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

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Other farmers point to the plan as a significant benefit in assisting improve their output.

"The instalment scheme is great. Most farmers do not have the cash and can not easily get a loan to purchase a pump like this," said Maurice Kitheka Munyoki, 41, as he stood next to his blue biodiesel pump.

"Having a scheme like this assists us a lot. Our yields are excellent which suggests we can pay off the cost of the pump slowly in little quantities, and have cash left over to pay the school charges."

Zaynagro's effort is still in its early stages, with few farmers having actually paid back the full cost of the pumps.

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

The simplicity of the model - easy-to-use, robust innovation, guaranteed supply of biodiesel combined with a pay-as-you-go scheme - could help energize rural Africa, he said.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy choices in the world. The crucial problem is checking ideas and techniques in a collective style," stated Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the area need to try and gain from this experiment. Financial institutions must 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, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, residential or commercial property rights and environment modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)