By Nita Bhalla

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

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

"But it works," he said, walking over to a neighboring tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has helped me get higher yields, particularly during dry spell periods."

Mathoka stated his profits had 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 utilizing is not simply excellent news for him - it is likewise excellent news for the world.

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

That means that along with being cleaner and less expensive than routine fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels due to the fact that no additional land is needed to produce it.

From Brazil to Indonesia, the rush to cultivate biofuel crops has driven forest neighborhoods off their land and pushed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more lucrative crops-for-fuel - exacerbating food lacks.

"Our biodiesel comes from crushing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning - the procedure of separating the seeds from raw cotton," stated Taher Zavery, handling director of Zaynagro Industries Ltd, the Kitui-based business 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, 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 up until now purchased biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an effort released by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

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

The repeating dry spells are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals - pushing millions of individuals in the Horn of Africa to the verge of extreme appetite.

The variety of Kenyans in need of food help in March surged by almost 70 percent over a period of 8 months to 1.1 million, largely due to poor rains, according to federal government figures.

With almost half Kenya's 47 counties stated to have a major scarcity of rain, humanitarian agencies are cautioning of increased cravings in the months ahead.

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

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

In Kitui's Kyuso area, the indications are currently apparent.

Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as a result of the prolonged drought.

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

Small-scale farmers, most of whom are dependent on rain-fed farming, talk about plans to sell their goats to make ends satisfy if the harvest is poor.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui's farmers are fretted.

A little however growing number are shedding their problem of reliance on the weather - and purchasing irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme introduced more than 3 years ago.

Neighbouring farmers band together to purchase the watering system - that includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at expenses beginning from 32,000 shillings, depending on the size of the pump.

The farmers make a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free month-to-month instalments 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 enabled him to irrigate a of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety 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 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 scheme as a major benefit in helping enhance their output.

"The instalment plan is excellent. Most farmers don't have the money and can not easily get a loan to buy a pump like this," stated 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 implies we can settle the cost of the pump gradually in percentages, and have cash left over to pay the school costs."

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

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

The simplicity of the design - user friendly, robust innovation, assured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go plan - might help amaze rural Africa, he said.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy choices worldwide. The crucial problem is checking concepts and techniques in a collaborative fashion," stated Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the region ought to try and gain from this experiment. Financial institutions must start exploring 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, females's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, residential or commercial property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)