By Nita Bhalla

KITUI, Kenya, June 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Kenyan farmer Abel Mutie Mathoka thought it should be a joke when he was told he might irrigate his drought-hit crops more cheaply, easily and effectively using 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, 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 actually helped me get greater yields, especially during dry spell periods."

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

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

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

That indicates that along with being cleaner and cheaper than routine fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels because no additional land is required to produce it.

From Brazil to Indonesia, the rush to crops has driven forest neighborhoods off their land and pushed farmers to switch from crops-for-food to more successful 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 started 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 some of their buses - and also to local farmers for irrigation."

More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have actually so far purchased biodiesel pumps for irrigation as part of an initiative launched by Zaynagro in 2015, stated Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate modification is taking a toll throughout east Africa and increasingly unpredictable weather condition is ending up being commonplace in nations such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rains.

The repeating dry spells are ruining crops and pastures and are starving animals - pushing countless individuals in the Horn of Africa to the verge of severe hunger.

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

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

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

"Well below-average crop production, bad animals body conditions, and increased regional food rates are prepared for, which will lower bad homes' access to food."

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

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

Villagers suffer travelling longer ranges - often more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys laden with empty jerry cans in search of water.

Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom are dependent on rain-fed agriculture, discuss plans to offer their goats to make ends fulfill if the harvest is bad.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui's farmers are worried.

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

Neighbouring farmers band together to buy the watering system - that includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipelines 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 monthly instalments until the total is paid off. They buy the biodiesel to run the pumps from Zaynagro at 80 shillings a litre.

Farmer Alex Babu Kitheka, 39, stated the biodiesel pump enabled him to water a larger portion of his one-acre plot, where he grows a range of veggies 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 earn 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 point to the plan as a significant benefit in assisting improve their output.

"The instalment scheme is great. Most farmers do not have the cash and can not easily 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 good which means we can settle the expense of the pump slowly in little 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 repaid the full 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 partner for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

The simpleness of the model - easy-to-use, robust innovation, guaranteed supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go scheme - might help energize rural Africa, he stated.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options on the planet. The key problem is testing concepts and methods in a collaborative fashion," stated Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the region should try and gain from this experiment. Financial institutions must begin experimenting with 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, females's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights and environment modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)