Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) describes a growing family of approaches and methods to enable local people to share enhance and analyze their knowledge of life and conditions, to plan and to act. In PRA information is more shared and owned by local people. This study undertakes to describe the role of participatory approach in community development in Gombe State, Nigeria using Gombe State Agency for community and social development projects (CSDP) as a case study. The methodology adopted was the use of secondary data with the aid of content analysis approach. The study indicates that Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) is one of the most appropriate approaches for the identification of community problems and for understanding the socio-economic and cultural aspects of the community. The beneficiaries were well aware of the PRA and its procedure because of the proper application and implementation by the Agency (CSDP). The researcher recommended that, there should be an increased level of awareness and enlightenment about public participation through mass media, and regular meetings with stakeholders and traditional authorities. Also, involvement of rural people in project formulation, planning and implementation should be encouraged. Moreover, the agency (GSA-CSDP) should sustain the PRA approach as the best procedure for bottom-up method of decision making since it has yielded the desired result.