The focus of this Policy Research Digest is on the viability of community management as the predominant model – and policy approach – of many countries in the global south. Based on a review of existing and recent literature Harold Lockwood sets out the argument that while community management may not be sufficient as the predominant, or only, management approach in many contexts, it should be retained, with greater professionalization and support, alongside a range of other options, including utilities, local private sector operators and, at the other end of the rural spectrum, structured support for self-supply approaches to improve services for the most dispersed communities.