Rifts in the Rift

DRIVE west out of Nairobi and you quickly realise how astonishing the topography around the Kenyan capital is. After an hour or so crawling in traffic past tea fields and farmers selling sheep skins and fresh vegetables, motorists suddenly find themselves on an escarpment from which the land simply drops away. On the horizon, mist clings to the top of Mount Longonot, a dormant volcano. Before it, a patchwork of tiny green farms stretches across the valley floor like a carpet.

This is the central part of the Rift Valley, a vast depression that stretches thousands of miles. It is Kenya’s breadbasket and its most densely populated region. Its flower farms, tea fields and coffee plantations provide much of the country’s exports, as well as employment for thousands of workers. Its geothermal energy plants provide Nairobi with cheap electricity; its lakes provide water and its farms food.