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 water his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, easily and effectively 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, 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 helped me get greater yields, particularly during dry spell periods."

Mathoka stated his profits had doubled in the 2 years he has actually 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 excellent news for him - it is likewise good news for the planet.

Unlike a lot of 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 procedure.

That means that as well as being cleaner and more affordable than regular fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels because no additional land is required 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 rewarding crops-for-fuel - worsening food lacks.

"Our biodiesel originates from squashing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning - the procedure 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 using 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 local farmers for irrigation."

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

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate change is taking a toll across east Africa and increasingly irregular weather condition is becoming commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rains.

The repeating dry spells are ruining crops and pastures and are starving animals - pushing millions of individuals in the Horn of Africa to the brink of extreme hunger.

The number of Kenyans in requirement of food help in March surged by practically 70 percent over a period of eight months to 1.1 million, largely due to poor rains, according to government figures.

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

"Only light rains is forecast through June ... and this is not expected to reduce drought in impacted locations 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 regional food prices are prepared for, which will lower poor households' access to food."

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

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

Villagers suffer trekking longer ranges - in some cases more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys loaded with empty jerry cans searching for water.

Small-scale farmers, most of whom are reliant on rain-fed agriculture, discuss 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 little however growing number are shedding their burden of reliance on the weather condition - and buying watering systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan launched more than three years back.

Neighbouring farmers unite to invest in the watering system - which consists of the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipelines 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 monthly instalments up until the overall is paid off. They buy the biodiesel to run the pumps from Zaynagro at 80 shillings a litre.

Farmer Alex Babu Kitheka, 39, said the biodiesel pump enabled him to irrigate a larger portion of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety of veggies 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," 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 helping enhance their output.

"The instalment plan is excellent. Most farmers don't have the money and can not quickly get a loan to purchase a pump like this," said Maurice Kitheka Munyoki, 41, as he stood next to 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 percentages, and have cash left over to pay the school costs."

Zaynagro's effort is still in its early stages, with couple of farmers having paid back the full expense of the pumps.

But such biofuel plans are promising due to the fact that they develop 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, ensured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go scheme - might assist amaze rural Africa, he said.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options worldwide. The key problem is testing ideas and approaches in a collective style," said Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the region should attempt and gain from this experiment. Banks should start explore 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, females's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)