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 informed he could irrigate 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, 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, walking over to a nearby tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has assisted me get greater yields, especially throughout drought durations."

Mathoka stated his profits had doubled in the two years he has been pumping water using biodiesel, which is both more effective and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre less expensive than routine diesel.

The biodiesel he is using is not just good news for him - it is also good news for the planet.

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

That indicates that as well as being cleaner and cheaper 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 switch from crops-for-food to more lucrative crops-for-fuel - worsening food shortages.

"Our biodiesel comes from crushing 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 began 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 watering as part of an effort introduced by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate modification is taking a toll across east Africa and increasingly unpredictable weather condition is becoming commonplace in nations such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rains.

The repeating droughts are ruining crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing countless people in the Horn of Africa to the brink of severe hunger.

The number of Kenyans in need of food aid in March rose by nearly 70 percent over a period of 8 months to 1.1 million, mostly due to bad rains, according to government figures.

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

"Only light rains is anticipated through June ... and this is not anticipated to alleviate drought in affected 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 rates are prepared for, which will minimize bad families' access to food."

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

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

Villagers experience trekking longer distances - often more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys packed with empty jerry cans looking for water.

Small-scale farmers, many of whom depend on rain-fed farming, talk about 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 but growing number are shedding their concern of dependence on the weather - and investing in irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme introduced more than 3 years back.

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

The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free regular 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 water a larger portion 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 3 months. With the biodiesel pump, I can make 45,000 shillings," said 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 major advantage in helping enhance their output.

"The instalment scheme is excellent. Most farmers do not have the cash and can not easily get a loan to buy a pump like this," stated 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 good which implies we can settle the cost of the pump gradually in little quantities, and have cash left over to pay the school charges."

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

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

The simplicity of the design - user friendly, robust technology, ensured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go scheme - could assist energize rural Africa, he stated.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options worldwide. The key problem is checking ideas and techniques in a collaborative fashion," said Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the area should try and gain from this experiment. Financial organizations 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, ladies's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, residential or commercial property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)