Poverty is one of the most pervasive social problems in Africa. Since the end of
the colonial era, a lot of debates have raged nationally and also internationally on
the definition and measurement of poverty. Poverty entails much more than
income deficiencies; hence it is a multi-faceted phenomenon which could also
include indicators such as HIV, health expenditure and undernourishment, among
others. This study sought to make a comparison of the trends in poverty
indicators for Kenya and South Africa between 2008 and 2012. It aims to
establish the differences in policy and implications to poverty between those two
countries. This was accomplished through the analysis of existing data of poverty
indicators from the 2014 World Bank database. The research unearthed that right
through the period under review, South Africa’s HIV prevalence, household
expenditure, mortality rate and health expenditure per capita have been higher
than that of Kenya. On the other hand, food deficiency and prevalence of
undernourishment have been found higher in Kenya than in South Africa.