The Rift Valley is the Kenyan part of a long fault that formed 8 million years ago and extends from the Red Sea to Mozambique. Long considered the cradle of humanity, this space is today inhabited by the Nilotics, indigenous peoples from the upper Nile valley. 

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It includes many ethnic groups and in particular the peoples of the Maa language: the Maasaïs, the Samburus and the Ilchamus.

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Despite the 87.9 billion dollars in GDP that Kenya generated in 2018, these populations are among the poorest, their annual income being less than the 300 euros of the national average. Societal changes have forced a large part of these tribes of semi-nomadic herders to become sedentary and gradually convert to agriculture.

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Access to water is still uncertain today. It depends on rain, wells, ponds and tanker trucks often far from homes. The majority of indigenous people live in traditional villages, with mud huts on clay. They live in basic and sometimes precarious conditions. Access to health and education is still difficult in this area of the country, with sometimes kilometers to travel to reach infrastructure.

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Since the pandemic, poverty has only increased and the status of women has declined significantly.

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In order to help the Kenyan populations, humanitarian missions are set up with the help of local partners. They face many problems including pollution, climate change and corruption.