By Nita Bhalla

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

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

"But it works," he stated, walking over to a nearby tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually helped me get greater yields, specifically during drought periods."

Mathoka said his incomes had actually doubled in the two years he has been pumping water utilizing 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 likewise excellent 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 process.

That suggests that along with being cleaner and more affordable than routine fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels due to the fact that 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 pushed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more lucrative crops-for-fuel - worsening food shortages.

"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 business producing the biodiesel.

"We began producing and utilizing 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 also to local farmers for irrigation."

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

DRY RIVER BEDS

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

The recurring dry spells are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing countless individuals in the Horn of Africa to the edge of severe hunger.

The variety of Kenyans in requirement of food aid in March surged by almost 70 percent over a period of 8 months to 1.1 million, largely 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 alerting of increased cravings in the months ahead.

"Only light rains is anticipated through June ... and this is not anticipated to ease dry spell in impacted locations of Kenya and Somalia," said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its latest report.

"Well below-average crop production, bad livestock body conditions, and increased local food rates are prepared for, which will reduce bad homes' access to food."

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

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

Villagers grumble of trekking longer ranges - 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 reliant on rain-fed agriculture, talk about strategies 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 however growing number are shedding their problem of reliance on the weather condition - and buying watering systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme released more than 3 years back.

Neighbouring farmers band together to buy the irrigation system - which includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipelines 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 month-to-month 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, said the biodiesel pump allowed him to water a larger part of his one-acre plot, where he grows a range 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 three months. With the biodiesel pump, I can earn 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 plan as a major advantage in assisting enhance their output.

"The instalment scheme is excellent. Most farmers don't have the cash and can not quickly 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 helps us a lot. Our yields are great which suggests we can pay off the cost of the pump gradually in percentages, and have money left over to pay the school costs."

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

But such biofuel schemes are appealing since they produce 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 simpleness of the model - easy-to-use, robust technology, assured supply of biodiesel combined with a pay-as-you-go plan - might assist energize rural Africa, he said.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy choices on the planet. The crucial issue is testing concepts and approaches in a collaborative style," stated Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the region should attempt and learn from this experiment. Financial organizations need to start explore 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, residential or commercial property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)