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 could water his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, easily and effectively using a pump sustained by cotton waste.

"Who could think it's possible to make a fuel much better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn't!" chuckled 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 close-by tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has helped me get greater yields, particularly throughout dry spell periods."

Mathoka said his revenues had actually doubled in the two years he has actually been pumping water using biodiesel, which is both more effective and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre cheaper than regular diesel.

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

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

That implies that in addition to being cleaner and less expensive than routine 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 switch from crops-for-food to more lucrative crops-for-fuel - worsening food shortages.

"Our biodiesel comes 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 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 also to regional farmers for irrigation."

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

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate modification is taking a toll throughout east Africa and significantly unpredictable is becoming commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rainfall.

The recurring dry spells are ruining crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing countless people in the Horn of Africa to the brink of severe hunger.

The number of Kenyans in requirement of food aid in March surged 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 practically half Kenya's 47 counties declared to have a major scarcity of rain, humanitarian companies are cautioning of increased appetite in the months ahead.

"Only light rainfall is forecast through June ... and this is not expected to ease drought in impacted locations of Kenya and Somalia," stated the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its newest report.

"Well below-average crop production, bad animals body conditions, and increased regional food prices are prepared for, which will lower bad households' access to food."

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

Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as an outcome of the prolonged dry spell.

Villagers suffer travelling longer distances - often more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys loaded with empty jerry cans in search of water.

Small-scale farmers, most of whom depend on rain-fed agriculture, go over plans 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 small but growing number are shedding their concern of reliance on the weather condition - and purchasing watering systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan launched more than 3 years earlier.

Neighbouring farmers unite to invest in the irrigation system - which includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipelines and 10 litres of biodiesel - at expenses beginning 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 total 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 permitted him to irrigate a larger part 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 3 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 indicate the plan as a major benefit in helping enhance their output.

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

"Having a plan like this helps us a lot. Our yields are great which indicates we can pay off the cost of the pump gradually in small amounts, and have cash left over to pay the school fees."

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

But such biofuel schemes are appealing because they develop 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 design - easy-to-use, robust innovation, guaranteed supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go plan - could assist amaze rural Africa, he stated.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy alternatives in the world. The essential issue is evaluating concepts and approaches in a collaborative style," stated Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the region need to attempt and gain from this experiment. Financial institutions should start try out loans to groups of farmers. International donors and investors need 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, ladies's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, home rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)