By Nita Bhalla

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

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

"But it works," he stated, 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 said his incomes had doubled in the 2 years he has been pumping water using biodiesel, which is both more efficient and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre more affordable than routine diesel.

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

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

That indicates that in addition to being cleaner and more affordable than regular 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 actually driven forest neighborhoods off their land and pushed farmers to switch from crops-for-food to more profitable crops-for-fuel - worsening food lacks.

"Our biodiesel comes from crushing 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 started producing and utilizing it to power our cotton ginning factory in 2011. With increased production, we now utilize it for our trucks, offer it to the United Nations to run a few of their buses - and also to regional farmers for irrigation."

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

DRY RIVER BEDS

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

The repeating dry spells are damaging crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing countless people in the Horn of Africa to the edge of extreme cravings.

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

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

"Only light rains is forecast through June ... and this is not anticipated to relieve drought in affected areas 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 local food prices are anticipated, which will reduce bad households' access to food."

In Kitui's Kyuso area, the signs are already evident.

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

Villagers experience trekking longer distances - sometimes more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys laden with empty jerry cans in search of water.

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

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui's farmers are stressed.

A small but growing number are shedding their concern of dependence on the weather - and investing in watering systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme released more than three years back.

Neighbouring farmers unite to invest in the watering system - which includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipelines and 10 litres of biodiesel - at expenses beginning with 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 purchase the biodiesel to run the pumps from Zaynagro at 80 shillings a litre.

Farmer Alex Babu Kitheka, 39, stated the biodiesel pump allowed him to irrigate a larger portion of his one-acre plot, where he grows a range 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 earn 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 plan as a major advantage in assisting improve their output.

"The instalment plan 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 beside his blue biodiesel pump.

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

Zaynagro's effort is still in its early phases, with few farmers having paid back the complete cost of the pumps.

But such biofuel schemes are promising because they develop a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for profit, stated Sanjoy Sanyal, senior partner for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

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

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options worldwide. The key issue is evaluating concepts and approaches in a collaborative style," stated Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the region should attempt and gain from this experiment. Financial organizations should start experimenting with 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, ladies's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights and environment modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)