Abstract: Agri-chains alter the trajectories of territorial development. Approaches focused on sustainable territorial development insist that local actors should have control over development and be allowed to orient it. It is a matter of understanding how local communities organize themselves or mobilize existing organizations to develop a collective project that can resolve the contradictions between the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of development. Three cases studied in Vietnam are presented here. They illustrate the significance of the local presence of traders and agro-industries, more so than that of the appropriation by farmer communities themselves of the issues of the development of these agri-chains. In this process, alliances between companies, farmers, and local authorities play a crucial role in the emergence of innovations. The challenge is for the local territorial actors, with the support of incumbent territorial organizations and State services, to participate collectively in the governance of agri-chains to solve the problems caused by the rapid growth of private firms.