1 Cotton Waste Biofuel Powers Farmers to Eliminate Drought In Kenya

Marguerite Charteris edited this page 2025-01-12 20:03:55 +08:00

By Nita Bhalla

KITUI, Kenya, June 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Kenyan farmer Abel Mutie Mathoka believed it needs to be a joke when he was informed he could water his drought-hit crops more cheaply, cleanly and efficiently 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, crouching down to check the watermelons on his 10-acre (four-hectare) shared plot in Ituri village in Kenya's southeast Kitui county.

"But it works," he stated, walking over to a nearby tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has assisted me get higher yields, especially throughout dry spell durations."

Mathoka said his earnings had actually doubled in the 2 years he has been pumping water using biodiesel, which is both more efficient and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre more affordable than routine diesel.

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

Unlike many 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 process.

That indicates that along with being cleaner and more affordable than routine fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels since no extra land is needed 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 lucrative crops-for-fuel - exacerbating food shortages.

"Our biodiesel originates from squashing 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 using 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 regional farmers for irrigation."

More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have so far bought biodiesel pumps for irrigation 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 increasingly irregular weather is ending up being commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rainfall.

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

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

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

"Only light rainfall is forecast through June ... and this is not anticipated to minimize drought in affected areas of Kenya and Somalia," said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its latest report.

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

In Kitui's Kyuso location, the signs are currently obvious.

Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as a result of the extended drought.

Villagers experience trekking longer distances - sometimes more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys loaded with empty jerry cans searching for water.

Small-scale farmers, most of whom are dependent on rain-fed farming, go over strategies to offer their goats to make ends fulfill 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 watering systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan launched more than three years earlier.

Neighbouring farmers band together to purchase the watering system - which consists of the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipelines and 10 litres of biodiesel - at costs beginning with 32,000 shillings, depending upon the size of the pump.

The farmers make a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free month-to-month instalments until the overall 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 allowed him to irrigate a larger part of his one-acre plot, where he grows a range of vegetables including 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 earn 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 indicate the plan as a significant advantage in helping enhance their output.

"The instalment plan is excellent. Most farmers don't have the cash and can not quickly get a loan to buy a pump like this," stated Maurice Kitheka Munyoki, 41, as he stood beside his blue biodiesel pump.

"Having a scheme like this assists us a lot. Our yields are great which implies we can settle the expense of the pump slowly in percentages, and have money left over to pay the school costs."

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

But such biofuel schemes are appealing due to the fact that they develop a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for profit, stated 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 combined with a pay-as-you-go plan - might assist energize rural Africa, he stated.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy alternatives worldwide. The essential problem is evaluating ideas and approaches in a collaborative fashion," said Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the area should try and discover from this experiment. Financial institutions should start 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, property rights and climate modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)