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 might irrigate his drought-hit crops more cheaply, easily and effectively using a pump fuelled by cotton waste.
"Who could think it's possible to make a fuel much 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, strolling over to a close-by tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has assisted me get greater yields, specifically throughout dry spell durations."
Mathoka said his incomes had 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 routine diesel.
The biodiesel he is using is not just good news for him - it is also good news for the planet.
Unlike a lot 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 procedure.
That means that as well as being cleaner and cheaper than regular fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels due to the fact that no extra land is required to produce it.
From Brazil to Indonesia, the rush to cultivate biofuel crops has driven forest communities off their land and pushed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more successful crops-for-fuel - worsening food scarcities.
"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 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 also to local farmers for watering."
More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have so far bought biodiesel pumps for watering as part of an initiative launched by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.
DRY RIVER BEDS
Climate modification is taking a toll throughout east Africa and significantly irregular weather condition is becoming commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rains.
The recurring dry spells are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals - pushing countless people in the Horn of Africa to the brink of extreme appetite.
The number of Kenyans in need of food aid in March surged by practically 70 percent over a period of eight months to 1.1 million, mainly due to poor rains, according to government figures.
With practically half Kenya's 47 counties stated to have a serious lack of rain, humanitarian companies are alerting of increased hunger in the months ahead.
"Only light rainfall is forecast through June ... and this is not anticipated to relieve drought in impacted locations of Kenya and Somalia," stated the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its newest report.
"Well below-average crop production, poor animals body conditions, and increased local food prices are prepared for, which will minimize poor homes' access to food."
In Kitui's Kyuso location, the signs are currently evident.
Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as a result of the prolonged dry spell.
Villagers experience travelling longer distances - often more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys laden with empty jerry cans in search of water.
Small-scale farmers, most of whom are reliant on rain-fed farming, discuss 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 fretted.
A small but growing number are shedding their problem of reliance on the weather - and buying irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme launched more than 3 years earlier.
Neighbouring farmers band together to invest in the irrigation system - that includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipelines and 10 litres of biodiesel - at expenses starting from 32,000 shillings, depending on the size of the pump.
The farmers make a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free month-to-month instalments till the overall is paid off. They purchase the biodiesel to run the pumps from Zaynagro at 80 shillings a litre.
Farmer Alex Babu Kitheka, 39, said the biodiesel pump enabled him to water a bigger portion of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety of vegetables 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 major benefit in assisting improve their output.
"The instalment plan is good. Most farmers do not have the cash and can not easily get a loan to buy a pump like this," said Maurice Kitheka Munyoki, 41, as he stood next to his blue biodiesel pump.
"Having a plan like this helps us a lot. Our yields are excellent which indicates we can pay off the expense of the pump gradually in little amounts, and have money left over to pay the school charges."
Zaynagro's effort is still in its early phases, with couple of farmers having repaid the full expense of the pumps.
But such biofuel plans are promising since they produce a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for profit, stated Sanjoy Sanyal, senior partner for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.
The simplicity of the model - user friendly, robust technology, ensured supply of biodiesel integrated with a - could assist energize rural Africa, he stated.
"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy alternatives on the planet. The key concern is evaluating concepts and methods in a collective style," stated Sanyal.
"Other cotton ginning factories in the area should attempt and find out from this experiment. Financial organizations ought to start experimenting with loans to groups of farmers. International donors and financiers 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, property rights and environment modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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Cotton Waste Biofuel Powers Farmers to Fight Drought In Kenya
Merlin Culbertson edited this page 2025-01-13 22:56:54 +02:00