These papers were given to the Oxford Development Records Project by the participants in a project to collect material about the development of African agriculture in Kenya, especially relating to the period from the 1940s to independence, and to the Swynnerton Plan to intensify African agriculture in Kenya, which was drawn up in 1954.

At a colloquium in Jul 1978, a list of former colonial officers and others likely to be able to assist in the project was drawn up and an aide-mémoire in the form of a questionnaire was compiled. Those officers who replied to the initial enquiries generally completed a personal data sheet and made some response to the aide-mémoire. Many also sent other relevant papers of their own. Some tape-recorded interviews were made and transcripts are included in the collection.

Where known, the descriptions include career details of the contributors.