[tim333]

I spent a while sitting in Malawi pondering that. A while ago but I don't think it's changed much. In many ways it's not a poor as you'd think from the GDP figures - most people have housing and enough food and the place is friendly and pleasant. I figured a lot is due to the exchange rate making things cheap because they don't have a good source of foreign income. The exports are mostly agricultural stuff that doesn't go for much money and the other obvious thing of tourism and holiday homes doesn't work well because the malaria is terrible there.

In fact I see the article doesn't mention malaria but most places you go they say oh yeah there were some cases a year ago twenty miles ago but in Nkhata Bay when I was there it was like a thousand cases in the village and a backpacker went the the loos the previous night and was found dead beside them in the morning.