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Cotton Waste Biofuel Powers Farmers to Eliminate Drought In Kenya
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 might irrigate his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, cleanly and efficiently using a pump sustained by cotton waste.
“Who could believe it’s possible to make a fuel better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn’t!” laughed Mathoka, crouching down to examine the watermelons on his 10-acre (four-hectare) shared plot in Ituri town in Kenya’s southeast Kitui county.
“But it works,” he said, walking over to a neighboring tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. “Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually assisted me get greater yields, particularly during drought durations.”
Mathoka said his profits had actually doubled in the 2 years he has been pumping water using biodiesel, which is both more effective and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre more affordable than routine diesel.
The biodiesel he is utilizing is not simply great news for him – it is also good 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 byproduct of the cotton-making process.
That suggests that along with being cleaner and more affordable than regular fuel, it is more sustainable 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 communities off their land and pushed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more successful crops-for-fuel – intensifying food lacks.
“Our biodiesel originates from crushing 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 utilizing 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 watering.”
More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have up until now invested in 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 throughout east Africa and progressively unpredictable weather is ending up being commonplace in nations such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rainfall.
The repeating dry spells are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals – pushing countless people in the Horn of Africa to the verge of severe appetite.
The number of Kenyans in requirement of food help in March rose by nearly 70 percent over a duration of eight months to 1.1 million, mainly due to poor rains, according to federal government figures.
With nearly half Kenya’s 47 counties stated to have a severe lack of rain, humanitarian companies are alerting of increased hunger in the months ahead.
“Only light rains is anticipated through June … and this is not expected to reduce dry spell in impacted areas of Kenya and Somalia,” said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its most current report.
“Well below-average crop production, bad animals body conditions, and increased local food rates are prepared for, which will reduce poor homes’ access to food.”
In Kitui’s Kyuso location, the signs are already evident.
Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as a result of the extended dry spell.
Villagers suffer trekking longer ranges – often more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys loaded with empty jerry cans looking for water.
Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom are reliant on rain-fed agriculture, talk about strategies to offer their goats to make ends meet if the harvest is poor.
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 purchasing irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro’s cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan launched more than three years ago.
Neighbouring farmers band together to buy the irrigation system – that includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel – at costs starting from 32,000 shillings, depending upon the size of the pump.
The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free monthly instalments till the total is paid off. They buy 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 larger portion of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety of veggies 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 scheme as a significant benefit in assisting improve their output.
“The instalment plan is good. Most farmers don’t have the cash and can not quickly get a loan to purchase a pump like this,” stated Maurice Kitheka Munyoki, 41, as he stood next to his pump.
“Having a plan like this helps us a lot. Our yields are great which means we can pay off the expense of the pump slowly in percentages, and have money left over to pay the school costs.”
Zaynagro’s initiative is still in its early stages, with couple of farmers having repaid the full cost of the pumps.
But such biofuel schemes are promising since they produce a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for revenue, said Sanjoy Sanyal, senior associate for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.
The simpleness of the model – easy-to-use, robust innovation, ensured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go scheme – might help electrify rural Africa, he stated.
“There is a mosaic of sustainable energy choices on the planet. The essential concern is checking concepts and techniques in a collective fashion,” said Sanyal.
“Other cotton ginning factories in the region ought to attempt and discover from this experiment. Financial organizations need to start try out 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 climate modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)