By Nita Bhalla

KITUI, Kenya, June 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Kenyan farmer Abel Mutie Mathoka believed it needs to be a joke when he was told he could water his drought-hit crops more cheaply, cleanly 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, walking over to a neighboring tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually helped me get higher yields, specifically throughout dry spell periods."

Mathoka stated his profits had actually 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 using is not just good news for him - it is also good news for the planet.

Unlike a lot of biofuels, which are originated from crops such as maize, sugarcane, soybean, rapeseed and jatropha curcas, it is made from a byproduct of the cotton-making procedure.

That suggests that along with being cleaner and more affordable than regular fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels since no additional 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 rewarding crops-for-fuel - worsening food shortages.

"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 business producing the biodiesel.

"We started producing and using 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 bought 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 irregular weather is becoming commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, resulting in lower rainfall.

The repeating droughts are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals - pushing millions of people in the Horn of Africa to the verge of extreme appetite.

The variety of Kenyans in need of food aid in March rose by nearly 70 percent over a period of eight months to 1.1 million, largely due to poor rains, according to federal government figures.

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

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

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

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

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

Villagers grumble of trekking longer ranges - sometimes more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys laden with empty jerry cans searching for water.

Small-scale farmers, most of whom depend on rain-fed farming, talk about strategies to offer their goats to make ends satisfy if the harvest is bad.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui's farmers are stressed.

A small but growing number are shedding their concern of dependence on the weather - and buying irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan released more than 3 years back.

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

The farmers make a preliminary payment, then pay interest-free month-to-month instalments till the overall is paid off. They purchase the biodiesel to run the pumps from Zaynagro at 80 shillings a litre.

Farmer Alex Babu Kitheka, 39, stated the biodiesel pump allowed him to water a bigger part of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety 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 village, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Other farmers indicate the scheme as a major advantage in helping improve their output.

"The instalment plan is great. Most farmers don't have the cash and can not easily get a loan to buy a pump like this," stated Maurice Kitheka Munyoki, 41, as he stood beside his blue biodiesel pump.

"Having a plan like this helps us a lot. Our yields are great which suggests we can pay off the cost of the pump slowly in little amounts, and have money left over to pay the school costs."

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

But such biofuel schemes are appealing since they develop a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for profit, said Sanjoy Sanyal, senior associate for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

The simpleness of the model - user friendly, robust technology, guaranteed supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go scheme - could help amaze rural Africa, he stated.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy options on the planet. The essential issue is testing ideas and methods in a collaborative style," said Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the region must try and gain from this experiment. Financial organizations need to start exploring with loans to groups of farmers. International donors and investors 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, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)