Shocking offer! Bill Gates wants to donate 100,000 hens to 'poverty-stricken' Bolivia

London: US billionaire Bill Gates reportedly offered 100,000 hens to Bolivia to mitigate the country's “acute poverty” but the Andean nation has rejected it, saying “We know how to produce poultry”.

Rejecting the donation offered by the tech magnate, the Bolivian government said that he needs to study the Andean nation's thriving poultry sector.

"How can he think we are living 500 years ago, in the middle of the jungle not knowing how to produce?" China's state-run daily the Global Times quoted Bolivian Development Minister Cesar Cocarico as saying.

"Respectfully, he should stop talking about Bolivia," he told reporters.

The Microsoft founder and philanthropist had reportedly said that he would donate 100,000 hens to countries with high poverty levels, including sub-Saharan Africa and Bolivia.

Citing a local poultry association, the daily said that Bolivia produces 197 million chickens annually and has the capacity to export 36 million.