Jatropha (only one species of that genus) was discovered in
Central America. The small-holders there found it
advantageous to surround their gardens with Jatropha
plantings because it is poisonous; pests won't go through
hedges of it to eat the crops.
For this reason it also became popular for small holders in
Vietnam; possibly elsewhere but I have no knowledge.
It produces oil seeds and eventually it was noticed that the
resulting vegatable oil can be burnt for (1)cooking fires
(2)modified diesel motor or (3)easily refomulated into
biodiesel for unmodified diesel engines. As the price of
fossil fuels went through the roof, the economies of
developing countries were badly damaged; as a result some
rather large Jatropha projects have been started. In the
countries I know about the small-holders can press and sell
the Jatropha oil at the processing plant for the same price
as from the nearby plantation; this provides a cash crop to
what might well othrwise be a subsistence farmer.
As for Haiti, just now they can neither feed themselves nor
have enough fuel for even cooking. Converting most of the
land, all barren, to producing Jatropha is feasible. It may
take a very long time before the destroyed soils, most of
Haiti, are able to grow enough food of the Haitians to feed
themselves; I am not sure about that but I am sure that after
last summer hurricanes, Haiti needs considerable help to
become self-sufficient; Jatropha will grow on their wrecked
hills.
I have further read of two successful projects in India
where, in each case, one or a few villages agree to grow some
Jatropha and take the oil to a central location where it is
burnt to generate some electricty. For one of these projects
this is enough so that the homes in the co-operative each
have a single electric light for 3 hours in the evening and
also street lighting for 3.5 hours.
Jatropha tolerates degraded soils and does not require much
water. So far, at least, nobody seems to have found a need
to apply chemical fertilizers to Jatropha shrubs AFAIK.
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