Fuel (energy) availability

Many rural households depend on solid fuels for cooking and heating. These sources include wood, charcoal, crop residues, dung, coal, and other forms of biomass. The availability of these sources of fuel can be on farm or in the landscape. Collecting fuel from the farm and landscape can be done by sustainable means if the production is equal to or higher than the demand. Agroforestry is often a means of providing fuel. 

More often in rural landscapes, fuel demand is higher than supply and therefore the farm and landscape are degraded and biomass (and often biodiversity) is reduced. Keeping track of the supply and demand of fuel at the household level can indicate the trajectory of fuel availability and potential landscape degradation or reforestation.