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 told he might irrigate his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, easily 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, bending 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 large green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually helped me get greater yields, specifically during drought durations."

Mathoka stated his revenues had actually doubled in the 2 years he has 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 using is not just excellent news for him - it is likewise good news for the planet.

Unlike many 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 as well as being cleaner and more affordable than routine fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels since no extra land is required to produce it.

From Brazil to Indonesia, the rush to cultivate biofuel crops has actually driven forest neighborhoods off their land and pressed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more successful crops-for-fuel - worsening food lacks.

"Our biodiesel originates from squashing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning - the procedure of separating the seeds from raw cotton," stated Taher Zavery, handling director of Zaynagro Industries Ltd, the Kitui-based business producing the biodiesel.

"We started producing and utilizing 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 a few of their buses - and likewise to local farmers for watering."

More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have so far invested in biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an initiative introduced by Zaynagro in 2015, stated Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate modification is taking a toll throughout east Africa and increasingly unpredictable weather condition 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 - pushing millions of individuals in the Horn of Africa to the brink of severe cravings.

The variety of Kenyans in need of food aid in March rose 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 nearly half Kenya's 47 counties declared to have a serious scarcity of rain, humanitarian agencies are warning of increased appetite in the months ahead.

"Only light rains is anticipated through June ... and this is not expected to reduce dry spell in affected locations of Kenya and Somalia," said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its most current report.

"Well below-average crop production, poor livestock body conditions, and increased local food prices are expected, which will lower bad homes' access to food."

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

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

Villagers complain of trekking longer ranges - sometimes more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys loaded with empty jerry cans in search of water.

Small-scale farmers, many of whom are reliant on rain-fed farming, talk about strategies to offer their goats to make ends satisfy if the harvest is bad.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui's farmers are fretted.

A little but growing number are shedding their concern of reliance on the weather condition - and investing in irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan released more than three years earlier.

Neighbouring farmers unite to buy the irrigation system - that includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipelines 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 monthly instalments up 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 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 make 45,000 shillings," said 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 enhance their output.

"The instalment plan is good. Most farmers do not have the cash and can not quickly get a loan to purchase 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 excellent which implies we can pay off the cost of the pump gradually in percentages, and have cash left over to pay the school costs."

Zaynagro's initiative is still in its early phases, with couple of farmers having actually paid back the complete cost of the pumps.

But such biofuel schemes are promising due to the fact that they develop a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for revenue, said Sanjoy Sanyal, senior partner for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

The simplicity of the design - user friendly, robust technology, assured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go scheme - might rural Africa, he stated.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options worldwide. The crucial problem is testing concepts and techniques in a collective style," stated Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the area must try and gain from this experiment. Financial organizations ought to begin try out 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)