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 irrigate his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, cleanly 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!" chuckled Mathoka, bending down to check the watermelons on his 10-acre (four-hectare) shared plot in Ituri village in southeast Kitui county.

"But it works," he said, strolling over to a nearby tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has assisted me get higher yields, specifically during drought durations."

Mathoka said his profits had doubled in the two years he has been pumping water using biodiesel, which is both more efficient and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre cheaper than regular diesel.

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

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

That suggests that as well as being cleaner and cheaper than regular fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels since 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 successful crops-for-fuel - worsening food scarcities.

"Our biodiesel comes from crushing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning - the process of separating the seeds from raw cotton," stated Taher Zavery, managing director of Zaynagro Industries Ltd, the Kitui-based business producing the biodiesel.

"We began 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 regional 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 change is taking a toll throughout east Africa and progressively irregular weather is becoming commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rains.

The recurring dry spells are ruining crops and pastures and are starving animals - pressing millions of people in the Horn of Africa to the edge of severe hunger.

The variety of Kenyans in need of food help 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 severe lack of rain, humanitarian firms are alerting of increased hunger in the months ahead.

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

"Well below-average crop production, poor animals body conditions, and increased regional food costs are expected, which will decrease bad households' access to food."

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

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

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

Small-scale farmers, the majority of whom depend on rain-fed farming, 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 small however growing number are shedding their concern of dependence on the weather - and purchasing irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme released more than three years back.

Neighbouring farmers unite to buy the watering system - that includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel - at expenses starting from 32,000 shillings, depending upon the size of the pump.

The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free regular monthly instalments till the overall 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 veggies including 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," stated Alex Babu Kitheka, standing near his plot in Ilangilo village, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Other farmers point to the scheme as a major advantage in assisting enhance their output.

"The instalment plan is good. 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 beside his blue biodiesel pump.

"Having a scheme like this assists us a lot. Our yields are good which suggests we can pay off the expense of the pump gradually in small quantities, and have cash left over to pay the school costs."

Zaynagro's effort is still in its early stages, with few farmers having actually repaid the full cost of the pumps.

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

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

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy choices on the planet. The essential issue is evaluating concepts and methods in a collective fashion," said Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the region ought to try and find out from this experiment. Financial organizations ought to start explore 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, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, home rights and environment modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)