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 might irrigate his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, cleanly and effectively utilizing a pump fuelled by cotton waste.

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

"But it works," he stated, walking over to a nearby tree and plucking a big green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has assisted me get higher yields, particularly throughout drought durations."

Mathoka stated his revenues 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 routine diesel.

The biodiesel he is utilizing is not simply excellent news for him - it is likewise great news for the planet.

Unlike most biofuels, which are stemmed 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 as well as being cleaner and cheaper than regular 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 communities off their land and pressed farmers to switch from crops-for-food to more rewarding crops-for-fuel - exacerbating food lacks.

"Our biodiesel comes from squashing 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 use it for our trucks, offer 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 purchased biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an initiative launched by Zaynagro in 2015, stated Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate change is taking a toll throughout east Africa and significantly unpredictable weather is becoming commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rains.

The repeating dry spells are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing countless individuals in the Horn of Africa to the edge of severe cravings.

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

With almost half Kenya's 47 counties declared to have a serious 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 reduce dry spell in affected locations of Kenya and Somalia," said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its latest report.

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

In Kitui's Kyuso area, the signs are already 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 loaded with empty jerry cans looking for water.

Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom are reliant on rain-fed agriculture, 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 however 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 released more than three years ago.

Neighbouring farmers unite to invest in the irrigation system - that includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipelines and 10 litres of biodiesel - at costs beginning from 32,000 shillings, depending upon the size of the pump.

The farmers make a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free month-to-month instalments up 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 permitted 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," 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 plan as a significant advantage in helping improve their output.

"The instalment scheme is good. Most farmers do not 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 helps us a lot. Our yields are excellent which implies we can settle the expense of the pump slowly in small amounts, and have money left over to pay the school costs."

Zaynagro's initiative is still in its early stages, with couple of farmers having actually repaid the complete cost 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 partner for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

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

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy alternatives worldwide. The essential concern is testing ideas and approaches in a collective fashion," said Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the region should attempt and gain from this experiment. Financial institutions must start 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, ladies's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, home rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)