A community project under way in this eastern province of Cuba promotes the production of homemade soap using the physic or Barbados nut (Jatropha curcas), the cultivation of which also improves soils damaged by drought or salinity. Two-and-a-half hectares in San Antonio del Sur, in the semi-arid region of Guantánamo, were reforested with this plan, which provides the organic material for the soap, said experts involved in the program.

This versatile plant can produce 1,590 liters of biodiesel per hectare. This fuel does not pollute the environment and its byproduct generically known as glycerol is widely used in Cuban industry, medicine and cosmetics.