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 cheaply, cleanly and efficiently using a pump sustained by cotton waste.

"Who could believe it's possible to make a fuel much better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn't!" laughed Mathoka, bending down to examine the watermelons on his 10-acre (four-hectare) shared plot in Ituri village in Kenya's southeast Kitui county.

"But it works," he said, strolling over to a close-by tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has helped me get higher yields, particularly throughout drought durations."

Mathoka said his earnings 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 cheaper than regular diesel.

The biodiesel he is using is not just excellent news for him - it is likewise good news for the world.

Unlike most biofuels, which are derived from crops such as maize, sugarcane, soybean, rapeseed and jatropha, it is made from a byproduct of the cotton-making procedure.

That suggests that along with being cleaner and less expensive than routine 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 actually 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 process of separating the seeds from raw cotton," stated Taher Zavery, handling director of Zaynagro Industries Ltd, the Kitui-based company producing the biodiesel.

"We began producing and using it to power our cotton ginning factory in 2011. With increased production, we now utilize it for our trucks, sell it to the United Nations to run a few 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 initiative released by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate modification is taking a toll across east Africa and progressively unpredictable condition is ending up being commonplace in nations such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rains.

The recurring droughts are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing countless individuals in the Horn of Africa to the brink of severe cravings.

The variety of Kenyans in need of food aid in March surged by nearly 70 percent over a period of eight months to 1.1 million, mostly due to bad rains, according to federal government figures.

With practically half Kenya's 47 counties stated to have a serious lack of rain, humanitarian companies are cautioning of increased cravings in the months ahead.

"Only light rainfall is anticipated through June ... and this is not anticipated to minimize dry spell in impacted areas of Kenya and Somalia," stated the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its latest report.

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

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

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

Villagers suffer travelling longer distances - sometimes more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys packed with empty jerry cans searching for water.

Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom depend on rain-fed farming, talk about plans to offer their goats to make ends meet if the harvest is poor.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui's farmers are worried.

A little however growing number are shedding their concern of dependence on the weather condition - and purchasing irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme introduced more than three years earlier.

Neighbouring farmers band together to invest in the irrigation system - which consists of the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at costs beginning with 32,000 shillings, depending on the size of the pump.

The farmers make a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free regular monthly instalments till the total is settled. They purchase the biodiesel to run the pumps from Zaynagro at 80 shillings a litre.

Farmer Alex Babu Kitheka, 39, stated the biodiesel pump enabled him to water a bigger portion of his one-acre plot, where he grows a range 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 3 months. With the biodiesel pump, I can make 45,000 shillings," stated Alex Babu Kitheka, standing near his plot in Ilangilo town, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Other farmers point to the scheme as a major benefit in assisting enhance their output.

"The instalment plan is great. 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 good which means we can settle the cost of the pump gradually in percentages, and have cash left over to pay the school charges."

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

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

The simpleness of the model - user friendly, robust innovation, guaranteed supply of biodiesel combined with a pay-as-you-go plan - could assist amaze rural Africa, he stated.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options in the world. The crucial problem is evaluating ideas and approaches in a collaborative fashion," said Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the area ought to attempt and find out from this experiment. Financial organizations must 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 change. Visit http://news.trust.org)