Malawi said that it won’t be able to meet a United Nations-set target date for the country to halve its poverty by 2015. “There has not been significant economic growth over the years to help eradicate extreme poverty and hunger,” said Ben Botolo, one of the directors in the state’s ministry of economic planning and development, later saying that progress in the south central African nation was only at two percent a year. Botolo also said the agriculture-reliant region had made “little progress” in bringing down its infant mortality rate. According to the World Bank, a major supporter of Malawi’s efforts, the nation’s economy should grow at a six percent rate annually for poverty levels to be significantly reduced. (Source: Malawi says unable to meet UN poverty reduction targets/Agence-Presse France)
