| Abstract: | Food and fuel production in the rural environment of developing countries are linked to income, and both are fundamental to welfare. It is difficult to measure the condition of the overall traditional fuel resource, but in Bangladesh the usage of village trees can be used as an indicator. Traditional fuel consumption per capita in the country seems to be more or less what would be expected for a country of this type, but it also seems that, at these levels of usage, serious shortages must soon appear. Because of the existing socio-economic structure of the rural population, the poor, landless stratum will be disproportionately affected by such shortages. Within the political and implementation constraints that exist, certain steps can be taken to offset the fuel shortage. These might at least include the rural poor, if not distributing all benefits directly to them. |
