A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PATIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT OF SOKOINE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE. MOROGORO, TANZANIA. 2017A number of Micro-Financial Institutions (MFIs) and Village Community Banks (VICOBA) have been working in Rorya District in providing financial services to support people’s efforts to improve their livelihoods. However, the level of livelihood outcomes in terms of income, food security and housing is still low. Therefore, the study on which this dissertation is based was done with the main objective to determine the influence of Village Community Banks (VICOBA) on livelihood outcomes (income, food security and housing quality) in the district. The specific objectives were to evaluate services provided by VICOBA; to determine outcomes of activities undertaken by VICOBA members in terms of income, food security and housing quality; and analyse linkages between VICOBA delivered services and livelihood outcomes of VICOBA members. A cross sectional research design was used, and probability and non-probability sampling methods were used to select wards, villages, Focus Group Discussants (FGDs), Key informants and respondents in six villages which had VICOBA groups. The sample size was 200 VICOBA members. In data collection, a questionnaire-based survey, key informant interviews and focus group discussions were used. The questionnaire based data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 20 whereby descriptive analysis was done, and multiple linear regression was used to analyse the influence of VICOBA delivered services on livelihood outcomes among VICOBA members. The results showed that credit received, as a VICOBA service, had positive significant influence on household income (β = 0.390, p < 0.001) and on food security p < 0.01). Education of household head (p ≤ 0.001) and household size (p ≤ 0.01) had significant influence on the chances of owning a house roofed with an iron sheets roof. Conclusively, increased access to VICOBA services can boost livelihood outcomes in terms of household income, food security and housing quality. Therefore, it is recommended that various actors should make more efforts in supporting VICOBA for the well-being of rural communities in Rorya District.