ABSTRACT
Energy is a basic necessity of subsistence and development, as important as water and land have been. The new dimensions of the world's rural energy problems lie in the increased pressure of population upon traditional energy resources, the need to develop new agricultural lands to meet food requirements, and the environmental shock caused by the widespread destruction of forests. The most fundamental need is to prevent further deterioration in subsistence agriculture. Rural energy initiatives need to be integral parts of such programmes and aimed at a greater degree of social participation and increased rural self-sufficiency. In most developing countries there is no energy policy directed towards the needs of subsistence agriculture. Most of the issues can be seen as disaggregated aspects of a fundamental general problem. New and renewable energy technologies have the advantgage that they can reduce the dependence of farming communities on external sources of energy supply.
