BP120: Trapped in underdevelopment: The permanence of poverty and food insecurity in Malawi

Reviewing Malawi Government development policy documents gives the impression that poverty and underdevelopment is a permanent feature. Earlier development plans, namely the Statement of Development Policies 1971-1980 (GOM, 1970), and Statement of Development Policies 1986-1995 (GOM, 1986), both declared that poverty – manifested through hunger, illiteracy and disease – were main enemies they intended to fight. Forty years on and in the new millennium, Malawi‟s most recent development strategies, namely the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy 2006-2011 (GOM, 2006) and Malawi Growth and Development Strategy 2011-2016 (GOM, 2011), still have poverty reduction as their goal.