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By Nita Bhalla

KITUI, Kenya, June 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Kenyan farmer Abel Mutie Mathoka thought it needs to be a joke when he was told he could water 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 better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn't!" laughed Mathoka, bending 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 said, over to a close-by tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has helped me get greater yields, specifically throughout dry spell periods."

Mathoka said his revenues had 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 simply excellent news for him - it is likewise great 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 byproduct of the cotton-making procedure.

That indicates that along with being cleaner and less expensive than routine fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels because 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 crushing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning - the procedure of separating the seeds from raw cotton," said Taher Zavery, managing director of Zaynagro Industries Ltd, the Kitui-based company producing the biodiesel.

"We began 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 also to regional farmers for irrigation."

More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have actually up until now bought biodiesel pumps for watering as part of an effort released by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

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

The repeating droughts are damaging crops and pastures and are starving animals - pushing millions of individuals in the Horn of Africa to the brink of extreme cravings.

The variety of Kenyans in need of food help in March surged by practically 70 percent over a duration of 8 months to 1.1 million, mainly due to bad rains, according to federal government figures.

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

"Only light rainfall is anticipated through June ... and this is not expected to alleviate drought in affected areas of Kenya and Somalia," stated the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its most current report.

"Well below-average crop production, bad animals body conditions, and increased regional food rates are anticipated, which will lower bad families' access to food."

In Kitui's Kyuso location, the signs are currently apparent.

Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as a result of the extended dry spell.

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

Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom depend on rain-fed farming, go over plans to offer their goats to make ends satisfy if the harvest is bad.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui's farmers are fretted.

A small however growing number are shedding their concern of dependence on the weather - and purchasing irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan released more than three years ago.

Neighbouring farmers unite to invest in the irrigation system - that includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at costs 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 buy 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 irrigate a larger part of his one-acre plot, where he grows a range of vegetables 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," stated Alex Babu Kitheka, standing near his plot in Ilangilo village, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Other farmers indicate the scheme as a significant benefit in helping improve their output.

"The instalment plan is good. 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 next to his blue biodiesel pump.

"Having a plan like this assists us a lot. Our yields are great which implies we can pay off the expense of the pump gradually in little quantities, and have money left over to pay the school fees."

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

But such biofuel plans are promising since they produce a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for revenue, said Sanjoy Sanyal, senior associate for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

The simpleness of the design - user friendly, robust innovation, ensured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go plan - could assist electrify rural Africa, he stated.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy choices worldwide. The key concern is evaluating concepts and techniques in a collaborative fashion," stated Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the area need to attempt and learn from this experiment. Financial institutions must begin try out 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)