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 might irrigate his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, cleanly and efficiently 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 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, walking over to a nearby tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually helped me get greater yields, specifically throughout drought periods."
Mathoka stated his earnings had 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 cheaper than routine diesel.
The biodiesel he is utilizing is not just great news for him - it is also great news for the world.
Unlike most biofuels, which are stemmed from crops such as maize, sugarcane, soybean, rapeseed and jatropha curcas, it is made from a by-product of the cotton-making procedure.
That indicates that along with being cleaner and more affordable than regular fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels because no extra land is required to produce it.
From Brazil to Indonesia, the rush to crops has driven forest neighborhoods off their land and pressed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more profitable crops-for-fuel - exacerbating food lacks.
"Our biodiesel comes from squashing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning - the procedure of separating the seeds from raw cotton," said Taher Zavery, handling director of Zaynagro Industries Ltd, the Kitui-based business 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, offer 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 up until now bought biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an initiative introduced by Zaynagro in 2015, stated Zavery.
DRY RIVER BEDS
Climate change is taking a toll across east Africa and increasingly erratic weather is ending up being commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rains.
The recurring droughts are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals - pushing millions of people in the Horn of Africa to the edge of severe hunger.
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, largely due to bad rains, according to federal government figures.
With practically half Kenya's 47 counties stated to have a severe scarcity of rain, humanitarian agencies are alerting of increased cravings in the months ahead.
"Only light rains is anticipated through June ... and this is not anticipated to relieve drought in affected locations of Kenya and Somalia," said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its newest report.
"Well below-average crop production, poor animals body conditions, and increased local food rates are expected, which will reduce bad families' access to food."
In Kitui's Kyuso area, the signs are currently apparent.
Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as a result of the extended drought.
Villagers experience travelling longer ranges - in some cases more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys packed with empty jerry cans searching for water.
Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom are dependent on rain-fed farming, discuss plans to offer their goats to make ends satisfy if the harvest is bad.
BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL
But not all Kitui's farmers are worried.
A small however growing number are shedding their problem of reliance on the weather condition - and purchasing watering systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme introduced more than three years ago.
Neighbouring farmers unite to buy the watering system - which consists of the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at expenses beginning with 32,000 shillings, depending on the size of the pump.
The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free month-to-month instalments until the total is paid off. They purchase the biodiesel to run the pumps from Zaynagro at 80 shillings a litre.
Farmer Alex Babu Kitheka, 39, stated the biodiesel pump allowed him to water a larger 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 3 months. With the biodiesel pump, I can make 45,000 shillings," said Alex Babu Kitheka, standing near his plot in Ilangilo town, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Other farmers indicate the plan as a significant benefit in assisting enhance their output.
"The instalment scheme is great. Most farmers don't have the money and can not easily get a loan to buy a pump like this," said Maurice Kitheka Munyoki, 41, as he stood beside his blue biodiesel pump.
"Having a scheme like this assists us a lot. Our yields are good which suggests we can settle the expense of the pump slowly in small amounts, and have cash left over to pay the school charges."
Zaynagro's initiative is still in its early stages, with couple of farmers having actually repaid the complete expense of the pumps.
But such biofuel plans are promising since they create a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for earnings, said Sanjoy Sanyal, senior associate for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.
The simpleness of the model - easy-to-use, robust innovation, assured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go plan - might assist amaze rural Africa, he said.
"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options on the planet. The key concern is testing ideas and methods in a collective style," said Sanyal.
"Other cotton ginning factories in the region should attempt and discover from this experiment. Financial organizations must start try out 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, residential or commercial property rights and environment modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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Cotton Waste Biofuel Powers Farmers to Fight Drought In Kenya
Marisol Walsh edited this page 2025-01-18 10:38:44 +08:00