Resource information
This study, the first to concentrate on
Bangladesh's energy systems and their effects on the
lives of rural people, drew on these background studies, as
well as other World Bank-financed research on IAP and rural
infrastructure, to present a rural energy strategy for the
country. The study's broad aim was to identify ways to
improve the living standard in rural Bangladesh through
better and more efficient use of energy, while creating an
environment conducive to growth and poverty reduction. For
any developing country, the crux of a rural energy strategy
is to have more and better choices for meeting rural demand
for energy through market mechanisms and sound policy. This
goes hand in hand with the development of competent
implementing institutions, which are critical to the
process. Also important are new supply- and demand side
technologies that can be used to raise rural people's
welfare and improve productivity to increase growth
prospects. Accordingly, the rural energy strategy advocated
by this study aims to satisfy the types of demand that
increase household welfare and raise rural growth prospects
as energy becomes a direct input into the production process.
