A collection of studies about rural people in Zimbabwe: women, traders, food producers, children and labour migrants; what they do, and how they manage their resources - land, capital, knowledge and markets - in competition and co-operation with others. Particular attention is given to the tensions arising between the rural people themselves and other actors in rural development and interested parties, for example the short term need for food and fuel security against sustainable development and the environmental agenda; and the importance of addressing the social dimensions of the increasing technological content in the development process. There is a long essay on poor children in a variety of social circumstances and the ways in which they work, including actual examples of how their time breaks down, the kinds of essential work they undertake, and their attitudes towards their routines. Most of the contributors are sociologists at the University of Zimbabwe.