The Malawi Social Action Fund (MASAF) is a quick-disbursing facility which routes money directly to communities. One of the main emphases of the project is to improve and strengthen the capacity of beneficiary communities to identify, prioritize, supervise, monitor, maintain and operate projects. Community contracting is an intrinsic part of this process. The participatory assessment of local stakeholder perspectives of community contracting included identifying: (i) key characteristics of the community contracting component, (ii) strengths and weaknesses of the approach, and; (iii) specific issues, constraints, and possible solutions.