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 water his drought-hit crops more cheaply, easily and effectively 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!" chuckled Mathoka, crouching 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, strolling over to a nearby tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has helped me get higher yields, especially during drought periods."

Mathoka stated his revenues had doubled in the two years he has actually been pumping water utilizing biodiesel, which is both more efficient and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre more affordable than routine diesel.

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

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

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

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

"Our biodiesel originates 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 company producing the biodiesel.

"We began producing and using it to power our cotton ginning factory in 2011. With increased production, we now utilize it for our trucks, offer it to the United Nations to run some of their buses - and also to regional farmers for watering."

More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have actually so far invested in biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an effort introduced by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate modification is taking a toll throughout east Africa and significantly erratic weather condition is ending up being 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 - pushing countless individuals in the Horn of Africa to the brink of severe hunger.

The number of Kenyans in need of food help in March rose 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 serious shortage of rain, humanitarian companies are warning of increased appetite in the months ahead.

"Only light rainfall is anticipated through June ... and this is not expected to minimize dry spell in impacted areas of Kenya and Somalia," stated the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its latest report.

"Well below-average crop production, bad livestock body conditions, and increased regional food prices are expected, which will reduce bad homes' access to food."

In Kitui's Kyuso location, the signs are already evident.

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

Villagers suffer trekking longer ranges - sometimes more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys loaded with empty jerry cans looking for water.

Small-scale farmers, most of whom depend on rain-fed farming, go over plans to offer their goats to make ends meet 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 burden of reliance on the weather - and investing in watering systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan released more than three years earlier.

Neighbouring farmers band together to purchase the irrigation system - which includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipelines and 10 litres of biodiesel - at costs beginning with 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 settled. 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 irrigate a bigger portion 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," 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 major advantage in helping improve their output.

"The instalment scheme is good. Most farmers don't 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 plan like this assists us a lot. Our yields are great which indicates we can settle the expense of the pump gradually in little quantities, and have cash left over to pay the school charges."

Zaynagro's initiative is still in its early phases, with few farmers having actually repaid the complete 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 earnings, said Sanjoy Sanyal, senior partner for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

The simpleness of the design - easy-to-use, robust innovation, ensured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go plan - could assist amaze rural Africa, he said.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy alternatives in the world. The essential issue is evaluating ideas and methods in a collaborative fashion," said Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the region need to attempt and find out from this experiment. Financial institutions need to start try out 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 climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)