Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 2017, 9, 637-655 http://www.scirp.org/journal/jwarp ISSN Online: 1945-3108 ISSN Print: 1945-3094 DOI: 10.4236/jwarp.2017.96043 May 23, 2017 Community Participation in the Decentralized Health and Water Services Delivery in Tanzania Ramadhani Marijani Tanzania Public Service College (TPSC), Singida, Tanzania Abstract This article examined community participation in the delivery of water and primary health care services in the Local Government Authorities (LGAs) in Tanzania. This was the descriptive research study which employed both qua- litative and quantitative research designs involving a total of 208 respondents. Where 127 respondents filled in the questionnaires, 51 respondents partici- pated in the in-depth interviews and 30 respondents participated in the Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). The results indicate that decentralization reforms have facilitated the formation of health and water services governance struc- tures that facilitate community participation in the service delivery. The find- ings further revealed the means through which community participated in the delivery of services, i.e., from participating in the meetings, project initiation and management, to membership in various statutory services boards and committees. Keywords Decentralization, Community Participation, Service Delivery, Local Government 1. Introduction The growing discussions on community participation have attracted the atten- tion of scholars and policy makers all over the world. Community participation is the heart and pre-requisite pillar of primary health care delivery approach [1]. The definition of PHC in the Alma Ata-Declaration embodied terms such as “self-reliance” and “self-determination” [2]. Community participation entails involvement in the development process af- fecting communities. Such as: 1) expressing demand for water source; 2) being involved in the selection of technology and the location; 3) providing labour and the materials; 4) contributing to capital and operation and maintenance costs; How to cite this paper: Marijani, R. (2017) Community Participation in the Decentra- lized Health and Water Services Delivery in Tanzania. Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 9, 637-655. https://doi.org/10.4236/jwarp.2017.96043 Received: March 27, 2017 Accepted: May 20, 2017 Published: May 23, 2017 Copyright © 2017 by author and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access