Most of Kenya's coffee crop grows in the fertile red volcanic soil on the plateaus to the north and east of Nairobi. These plateaus surround Mount Kenya, an extinct volcano that soars 17,000 feet above sea level. Small cooperatives bind together over 300,000 small farms. The farms are only about half an acre in size on average, and cultivate coffee at altitudes between 4,900 and 6,800 feet.
