Full text can be accessed at http://www.ajol.info/index.php/lwati/article/view/57469This paper analyses the existing university–community partnership in research in Tanzania and proposes a bottom-top model instead of the traditional top-bottom approach which works with perceived needs of communities rather than real needs. Given their core missions, many universities assume that they achieve their missions, while communities do not appreciate universities’ contributions for the advancement of both. As universities grow and increase in number, communities have remained poor. The proposal in this paper is for universities to plan and conduct research using the bottom-top model where community members can participate in explaining their problems which they need to be researched for solutions.