Editing Basutoland (section)

==Economy== 
Throughout the period of British rule the country remained economically underdeveloped and under the control of the tribal chiefs. This lack of interest in development can be explained by the fact that until the 1950s the primary focus of the colonial administration was the maintenance of law and order rather than economic development.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aerni-Flessner |first=John |date=2014 |title=Development, Politics, and the Centralization of State Power in Lesotho, 1960-75 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43305214?searchText=&searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=basutoland&so=rel&ab_segments=0/basic_search_gsv2/control&searchKey=&refreqid=fastly-default:7c668ae0e82dc26c60b810a15842b446&initiator=recommender&seq=6 |journal=The Journal of African History |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=401–421 |issn=0021-8537}}</ref> This, combined with a desire from the [[Colonial Office]] in London not to spend much money through aid on what it considered a backwater and low government revenue meant that until independence little significant economic development took place in the territory.<ref name="Ward 1967 355–368">{{Cite journal |last=Ward |first=Michael |date=1967 |title=Economic Independence for Lesotho? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/158729?searchText=&searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=basutoland&so=rel&ab_segments=0/basic_search_gsv2/control&searchKey=&refreqid=fastly-default:62447e37df93f28945ff1a09e2e22906&initiator=recommender&seq=14 |journal=The Journal of Modern African Studies |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=355–368 |issn=0022-278X}}</ref> This lack of development meant that the colony was reliant on food and health services from South Africa. Furthermore, key parts of its economy were also dependent on remittances from Basotho workers in South Africa.<ref name="Ward 1967 355–368"/> This led to the perception amongst the Basotho that they were little more than a "Bantustan" of South Africa. However, as independence approached more international organisations, like the American Peace Corps and the World Bank began to provide funding towards economic growth and development. The British also began providing more money to the government through the Colonial Development Fund throughout the 1950s and 1960s.