kakwani and subbarao examined household survey data from countries in subsaharan africa against the respective national poverty lines the study confirmed that poverty rates are high in subsaharan africa for the whole population in general and for the older population in particular national poverty rates varied from per cent to per cent in the general population and between per cent and per cent among older persons table in of the countries studied the incidence of poverty was higher for the older population than for the population as a whole the exceptions were burundi madagascar mozambique and nigeria