By Nita Bhalla

KITUI, Kenya, June 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Kenyan farmer Abel Mutie Mathoka thought it needs to be a joke when he was informed he could irrigate his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, cleanly and effectively utilizing a pump sustained by cotton waste.

"Who could think it's possible to make a fuel 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 town in Kenya's southeast Kitui county.

"But it works," he said, strolling over to a nearby tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually assisted me get greater yields, especially during dry spell durations."

Mathoka stated 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 less expensive than regular diesel.

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

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

That suggests that along with being cleaner and more affordable than regular fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels because no extra land is required to produce it.

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

"Our biodiesel comes from crushing 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 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 some of their buses - and also to local farmers for watering."

More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have actually up until now bought biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an effort introduced by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate modification is taking a toll across east Africa and progressively erratic weather is ending up being commonplace in nations such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rains.

The recurring dry spells are ruining crops and pastures and are starving animals - pushing millions of people in the Horn of Africa to the verge of extreme cravings.

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

With almost half Kenya's 47 counties declared to have a severe lack of rain, humanitarian agencies are warning of increased cravings in the months ahead.

"Only light rains is anticipated through June ... and this is not expected to alleviate dry spell in affected 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 regional food prices are expected, which will reduce 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 extended drought.

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

Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom depend on rain-fed farming, discuss strategies to sell their goats to make ends satisfy 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 reliance on the weather condition - and buying irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan launched more than three years ago.

Neighbouring farmers unite to buy the irrigation system - which consists of the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at expenses beginning from 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 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 permitted him to water a larger 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 village, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Other farmers point to the plan as a major advantage in assisting improve their output.

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

"Having a plan like this helps us a lot. Our yields are great which means we can pay off the cost of the pump gradually in percentages, and have money left over to pay the school charges."

Zaynagro's initiative is still in its early stages, with few farmers having actually repaid the complete expense of the pumps.

But such biofuel plans are appealing due to the fact that they develop a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for earnings, stated Sanjoy Sanyal, senior associate for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

The simplicity of the model - easy-to-use, robust innovation, assured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go scheme - could assist electrify rural Africa, he stated.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy choices in the world. The key concern is evaluating ideas and techniques in a collaborative style," said Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the area should attempt and discover from this experiment. Banks should 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, ladies's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, home rights and environment modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)