The usual tendency is for the VEWs to talk to formal leaders and commercial sections of the community. By using the sociometry method (see Box 1 for details on the methodology), they can identify potential leaders. However, it is also important to be sensitive to the leadership structures operating in that culture and to the knowledge and skills needed to be a successful leader of a farmer organization.
In some cultures, it is wise to search for and contact middle-aged leaders of the area who are not too young or too old. Preferably, they should come from better-off families, have social status and respect, and be from farming households. Case studies of leaders who have established farmer organizations show that these leaders initially made considerable sacrifices, experienced financial losses, and had to be supported by their families. These leaders also had to struggle and negotiate with bankers, bureaucrats, politicians, critics, and others including their own farmer members (Seetharaman & Shingi, 1992). This family background and grooming helps these leaders to deal with situations which they will have to face with confidence and without being cowed. Leadership of an FO is not a job for a sincere but ordinary farmer.