Best Volume 3:Rural Supply & Demand (Biomass Energy Strategy)
This Chapter addresses biomass energy issues in rural areas. Although the focus of the BEST
is on the commercial aspects of biomass (purchased firewood and charcoal in urban areas), it
is important to also look at rural aspects: the majority of Rwandans live in rural areas and in
addition, they supply over 80% of the energy used in urban areas. If there is a problem with
the supply or use of energy in rural areas, this may have implications for the energy situation
in urban areas.
Since there are quite a few unknown aspects of rural energy, MININFRA decided to carry out
a rural energy survey. This survey consisted of 3000 interviews of randomly chosen rural
households, 100 in each district1, as well as focus group discussions in each district. The
results of these data collection efforts are presented below.
