By Nita Bhalla

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

"Who could think 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 village in Kenya's southeast Kitui county.

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

Mathoka stated his revenues had actually doubled in the 2 years he has been pumping water using 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 great news for him - it is also excellent news for the world.

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

That indicates that as well as being cleaner and cheaper 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 neighborhoods off their land and pushed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more - intensifying food shortages.

"Our biodiesel comes from squashing 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 business 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 likewise to regional farmers for irrigation."

More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have so far invested in biodiesel pumps for watering 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 increasingly irregular weather condition is ending up being commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rainfall.

The recurring droughts are damaging crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing countless individuals in the Horn of Africa to the verge of extreme appetite.

The number of Kenyans in requirement of food aid in March surged by almost 70 percent over a duration of eight months to 1.1 million, mostly due to poor rains, according to federal government figures.

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

"Only light rainfall is anticipated through June ... and this is not expected to alleviate drought in impacted locations of Kenya and Somalia," said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its newest report.

"Well below-average crop production, poor animals body conditions, and increased local food rates are expected, which will reduce bad families' access to food."

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

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

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

Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom are reliant on rain-fed farming, discuss 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 stressed.

A little however growing number are shedding their burden of reliance on the weather - and buying watering systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme launched more than 3 years back.

Neighbouring farmers band together to buy the irrigation system - which consists of the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at costs beginning with 32,000 shillings, depending upon the size of the pump.

The farmers make a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free regular monthly instalments until the total is settled. 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 water a bigger portion of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety 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 make 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 scheme as a significant benefit in helping improve their output.

"The instalment scheme is excellent. Most farmers do not have the cash and can not quickly get a loan to buy a pump like this," said Maurice Kitheka Munyoki, 41, as he stood next to 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 small quantities, and have cash left over to pay the school fees."

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

But such biofuel plans are appealing due to the fact that they create 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 simpleness of the design - easy-to-use, robust innovation, assured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go scheme - could assist amaze rural Africa, he said.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy choices worldwide. The crucial issue is evaluating concepts and approaches in a collective fashion," said Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the area ought to try and gain from this experiment. Financial institutions need to start explore loans to groups of farmers. International donors and financiers 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, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, residential or commercial property rights and environment modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)