With the liberalization of markets and the rapid decline of government subsidies and support to these organizations many are now encountering difficulties in operating under the new freer market conditions. Those that do succeed will pave the way for the establishment of new more participatory and self-reliant rural people's organizations. They are also being seen by some as essential social mechanisms for achieving complex sustainable development objectives and ensuring social harmony. Official statistics do not often reflect the importance of rural people's organizations since they generally refer only to legally-recognized and registered rural people's organizations, such as cooperatives, agricultural labour unions and some farmer producer organizations. Little quantitative data exists on a broad range of other numerous informal rural people's organizations, like community associations, clubs and informal groups, which many assert, play an equally significant role in enabling people's participation at local level.
Agricultural cooperatives are the most visible farmer organizations in rural areas.
In developed countries and within some sectors of the economy, agricultural cooperatives hold significant market shares. Other sectors, such as grain, poultry, fruits and vegetables, rural electricity and farm input supply are also heavily cooperatized and it is quite common for farmer members to belong to several cooperatives at once. Agricultural cooperative membership in developing countries tends to be much less extensive and overlapping, except in some NICs where cooperative membership was often mandatory. This category includes a variety of dues-supported agricultural labour unions and peasant unions, etc. whose members are typically agricultural wage labourers engaged in the export crop sector on large plantations and whose organizations are established to assist them in bargaining for improved working and salary conditions. Yet it is important to note that RWOs frequently provide other important member services as well, including smallholder extension, education and health services.