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Mission NewEnergy Ltd

Mission NewEnergy Ltd

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  • Founded Date August 29, 1930
  • Sectors Security Guard
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Cotton Waste Biofuel Powers Farmers to Fight Drought In Kenya

By Nita Bhalla

KITUI, Kenya, June 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Kenyan farmer Abel Mutie Mathoka believed it should be a joke when he was told he could water his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, cleanly and efficiently 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 town in Kenya’s southeast Kitui county.

“But it works,” he said, strolling over to a neighboring tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. “Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has helped me get higher yields, especially during dry spell periods.”

Mathoka stated his revenues had actually doubled in the 2 years he has actually been pumping water using 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 good news for him – it is likewise great news for the world.

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

That implies 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 actually driven forest neighborhoods off their land and pushed farmers to change from crops-for-food to more rewarding crops-for-fuel – intensifying food lacks.

“Our biodiesel originates from crushing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning – the procedure of separating the seeds from raw cotton,” stated 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 use it for our trucks, offer it to the United Nations to run some of their buses – and also to local farmers for watering.”

More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have actually up until now bought 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 progressively irregular weather condition is becoming commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rainfall.

The recurring droughts are destroying crops and pastures and are starving animals – pressing countless individuals in the Horn of Africa to the verge of severe appetite.

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

With practically half Kenya’s 47 counties declared to have a major scarcity of rain, humanitarian companies are alerting of increased cravings in the months ahead.

“Only light rainfall is forecast through June … and this is not anticipated to alleviate drought in affected locations of Kenya and Somalia,” stated the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its latest report.

“Well below-average crop production, poor livestock body conditions, and increased local food prices are expected, which will reduce poor households’ access to food.”

In Kitui’s Kyuso area, the indications 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 – in some cases more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys laden with empty jerry cans looking for water.

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

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui’s farmers are fretted.

A little however growing number are shedding their concern of dependence on the weather – and buying irrigation powered by Zaynagro’s cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go scheme released more than 3 years back.

Neighbouring farmers unite to buy the irrigation system – which includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipes and 10 litres of biodiesel – at expenses beginning with 32,000 shillings, depending upon the size of the pump.

The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free monthly instalments 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 allowed him to water a larger part 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 3 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 scheme as a significant advantage in helping improve their output.

“The instalment plan is excellent. Most farmers don’t have the cash and can not quickly get a loan to purchase 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 implies we can pay off the expense of the pump slowly in percentages, and have money left over to pay the school charges.”

Zaynagro’s initiative is still in its early phases, with few farmers having repaid the complete expense of the pumps.

But such biofuel plans are appealing due to the fact that they produce a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for profit, stated Sanjoy Sanyal, senior associate for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

The simplicity of the design – user friendly, robust technology, ensured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go scheme – could help amaze rural Africa, he said.

“There is a mosaic of sustainable energy choices in the world. The key concern is testing concepts and methods in a collaborative style,” said Sanyal.

“Other cotton ginning factories in the area should attempt and gain from this experiment. Financial institutions must begin try out 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, home rights and environment modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)