Evaluate the economic and social impact of British rule in Kenya to 1963.

The question requires that candidates make an appraisal of the impact of British rule in Kenya up to 1963, weighing up the importance or otherwise of the economic and social effects. Candidates may offer equal coverage of economic and social factors, or they may prioritize their evaluation of one over the other. However, both aspects will be a feature of the response. A comparative approach may or may not be used. For the economic impact, candidates may refer to improvements in the transport system with the construction of all-weather roads and railway lines, and the advances that were made to communications and industrial developments. In terms of social changes, there may be some focus on how education gradually became formalized, the increased use of western medicine that inhibited the spread of tropical diseases and the development of agricultural practices. Candidates may suggest that a major social and economic effect was the introduction of plantation agriculture and a European settler community in the White Highlands. Both importance and limitations of the impact of British rule must be clearly indicated but there does not need to be an equal focus on each. While other relevant factors may be referred to, the bulk of the response will remain on the issue raised in the question.