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 might irrigate his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, easily and efficiently using a pump fuelled by cotton waste.

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

Mathoka stated his revenues had actually doubled in the 2 years he has been pumping water utilizing biodiesel, which is both more efficient and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre cheaper than regular diesel.

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

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

That implies that along with being cleaner and cheaper than routine fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels because no extra land is needed to produce it.

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

"Our biodiesel comes 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 company producing the biodiesel.

"We started producing and using it to power our cotton ginning factory in 2011. With increased production, we now use it for our trucks, sell it to the United Nations to run a few of their buses - and likewise to regional farmers for watering."

More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have actually up until now invested in biodiesel pumps for watering as part of an initiative launched by Zaynagro in 2015, .

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate modification is taking a toll across east Africa and significantly erratic weather is becoming commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rains.

The repeating dry spells are damaging crops and pastures and are starving animals - pushing millions of individuals in the Horn of Africa to the verge of severe appetite.

The variety of Kenyans in need of food help 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 nearly half Kenya's 47 counties stated to have a major scarcity of rain, humanitarian agencies are cautioning of increased hunger in the months ahead.

"Only light rains is forecast through June ... and this is not anticipated to ease drought in affected areas of Kenya and Somalia," stated the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its newest report.

"Well below-average crop production, poor animals body conditions, and increased local food rates are expected, which will minimize bad families' access to food."

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

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

Villagers complain of trekking longer distances - often more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys laden with empty jerry cans searching for water.

Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom are dependent on rain-fed agriculture, talk about plans to sell their goats to make ends fulfill if the harvest is bad.

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 investing in watering 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 - which consists of the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at costs starting 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 overall 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 permitted him to water a bigger portion of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety of vegetables including 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," said Alex Babu Kitheka, standing near his plot in Ilangilo town, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Other farmers indicate the scheme as a major benefit in assisting improve their output.

"The instalment scheme is excellent. Most farmers do not 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 assists us a lot. Our yields are great which implies we can pay off the cost of the pump slowly in small amounts, and have cash left over to pay the school fees."

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

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

The simplicity of the design - easy-to-use, robust innovation, guaranteed supply of biodiesel combined with a pay-as-you-go scheme - might help energize rural Africa, he stated.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy choices in the world. The essential problem is testing ideas and approaches in a collaborative style," stated Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the region should try and gain from this experiment. Banks need to begin exploring with 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, females's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, residential or commercial property rights and climate modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)