Programme 8 of 10
Water points, sanitation and local infrastructure projects built with communities, not just for them.
Overview
A child cannot learn well in a village without clean water or a safe path to school. Our Community Development programme partners with village governments to identify and deliver the infrastructure a community itself ranks as most urgent — water points, sanitation blocks, footbridges and community halls.
Every project starts with a community meeting, not a blueprint from our office. Village committees help prioritise, contribute labour where possible, and take over maintenance once the project is handed over — so the investment lasts well beyond our involvement.
Why it matters
have received a community-prioritised infrastructure project through the programme so far.
Updates
Village-level infrastructure requests can move faster when they're linked to these active national schemes.
Tanzania Social Action Fund
As part of PSSN III, labour-intensive public-works funding builds and rehabilitates community infrastructure — water points, feeder roads, school blocks — while paying short-term wages to vulnerable households.
Visit official site →PMO-RALG
Councils allocate a share of locally collected revenue to community-identified projects each year — village and ward development committees can formally submit priority requests through their council.
Government of Tanzania & development partners
National and council budgets continue to expand rural water-point and sanitation coverage — villages without a functioning water source can be registered as priority cases through their local government.
Programmes, funding amounts and application windows change — we do our best to keep this list current, but always confirm details on the official website before applying.
Our process
Village leaders and residents identify and rank their most urgent infrastructure needs.
Our team costs the priority project and matches it to available funding and partners.
Contractors and community labour deliver the project, with residents contributing where they can.
A village committee is trained and equipped to maintain the project long after completion.
In detail
Boreholes, water points and sanitation blocks that cut disease and free up hours once spent fetching water.
Community halls, footbridges and safe pathways that connect households to schools and services.
We train village committees in project oversight and maintenance so ownership stays local.
Impact so far
Common questions
Village governments or community groups can submit a request through our Contact page; our team then visits to assess and prioritise.
Yes — communities typically contribute labour, local materials or land, which builds ownership and keeps costs down.
A trained village committee takes over maintenance, with our team available for follow-up support in the first year.
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