This paper reviews the rise of geographic concentrations of small food-processing units in rural areas of Latin America, in order to show that, drawing on the literature about clusters, they may represent a new type of local productive system, namely local agri-food systems. Furthermore, it assesses whether they might compete efficiently in global food commodity chains. In this regard, the authors identify the specific assets of these systems, drawing on some specific cases, and show the conditions that can enable local agro-industrial producers to compete on national or even global markets. The article suggests that they must enhance their capacity for collective action through the qualification of the products and the fostering of common assets for all the actors involved. These elements could provide a rationale for the categorization of clusters according to their efficiency. Actually, although they won't be able to achieve competitive efficiency in every case, the authors believe that some might. In this sense, they think that it remains useful to set up a new research programme about these topics.