By Nita Bhalla

KITUI, Kenya, June 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Kenyan farmer Abel Mutie Mathoka believed it should be a joke when he was told he could water his drought-hit crops more cheaply, easily 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!" laughed 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 close-by tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually assisted me get higher yields, particularly during dry spell durations."

Mathoka stated his profits had doubled in the 2 years he has been pumping water using biodiesel, which is both more effective and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre more affordable than routine diesel.

The biodiesel he is utilizing is not simply excellent news for him - it is also excellent news for the world.

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

That suggests that in addition to being cleaner and more affordable than regular fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels since 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 rewarding crops-for-fuel - worsening food scarcities.

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

"We started 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 likewise to regional farmers for watering."

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

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate change is taking a toll throughout east Africa and progressively irregular weather is ending up being commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rains.

The repeating droughts are destroying 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 practically 70 percent over a period of eight months to 1.1 million, mainly due to poor rains, according to federal government figures.

With nearly half Kenya's 47 counties declared to have a major scarcity of rain, humanitarian firms are alerting of increased appetite in the months ahead.

"Only light rainfall is anticipated through June ... and this is not anticipated to alleviate drought in impacted locations of Kenya and Somalia," stated 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 prepared for, which will lower poor households' access to food."

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

Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as an outcome of the extended drought.

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

Small-scale farmers, most of whom are dependent on rain-fed agriculture, discuss strategies to sell 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 however growing number are shedding their problem of reliance on the weather condition - and purchasing irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan launched more than 3 years back.

Neighbouring farmers band together to invest in the irrigation system - that includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at costs starting from 32,000 shillings, depending upon the size of the pump.

The farmers make a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free monthly instalments up until the total is paid off. They buy 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 larger portion of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety of veggies consisting of 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 town, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Other farmers point to the scheme 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 scheme like this assists us a lot. Our yields are good which implies we can settle the expense of the pump gradually in little quantities, and have cash left over to pay the school costs."

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 since 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 simplicity of the model - user friendly, robust technology, guaranteed supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go plan - might assist energize rural Africa, he stated.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy choices in the world. The crucial issue is evaluating ideas and methods in a collaborative fashion," stated Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the region need to try and gain from this experiment. Financial organizations must begin try out loans to groups of farmers. International donors and financiers 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, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, home rights and climate modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)