This programmatic  priority is the foundation on which COTRR lays all other priority areas. The community structures definition that COTRR focuses on is:

Community structures are community-led systems and mechanisms used by communities through which members of the community, community based groups, and organizations interact, co-ordinate and deliver responses to development challenges and day-to-day needs facing their communities.

COTRR`s approach focuses on promoting the development of capable, informed, and well-coordinated communities and community based groups and organizations. The approach brings together a broad range of community actors, enabling them to contribute as equals alongside other actors towards sustainable community development and the resilience of communities and households to various shocks.

Our past experience has taught us that sustainable community development and resilience to shocks can be achieved only through developing the role of key affected populations and communities in the design, delivery, monitoring and evaluation, and improvement of initiatives meant to change their situations.

With this in mind, COTRR engages communities through the volunteer and farmer promoter system to create awareness on risk reduction, identify community hazards and empower the volunteers to drive the community resilient building vehicle. The volunteers are taken through various TOT trainings that enable them put into perspective the impact of daily actions in destroying or enhancing their capacity.

The groups capacity enhancement is tailored to focus on the following areas:- community organisation, group dynamics and conflict resolution, project and financial management, basics in Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction (CMDRR), Community Managed Natural Resource Management (CMNRM) and community level education and advocacy campaigns.

Program activities are participatory designed to ensure building on indigenous knowledge and skills for sustainable communities owned livelihood enhancement initatives.

The organisation strives to build local capacities of existing community groups to adapt and adopt to the best practices generated by the national research bodies.