White Highlands

The term White Highlands describes an area in the central uplands of Kenya, so-called because, during the period of British Colonialism, white immigrants settled there in considerable numbers particularly to take advantage of the good soils and growing conditions, as well as the cool climate. The British East Africa colony, founded in 1905, encouraged British immigration and by the time the Kenya Colony came into being in 1920 about 10,000 British had settled in the area. Settlers got 999 year leases over about 25% of the good land in Kenya. The original occupants of the land were predominantly from the Gikuyu tribe, but the Embu and Meru tribes were also affected. The three tribes are collectively known as G.e.m.a, and were active in the Mau Mau Uprising. Eventually, they were physically relocated, and their activities constrained to defined areas called native reserves.

The Maasai tribe who are pastoralists, found the amount of grazing land considerably reduced as the white highlands expanded to affect them as well.