The high dependence of rural inhabitants on income from the sale of agricultural products, the heterogeneity of production processes, and the permanent allocation of public and private resources to the primary sector have strengthened value chains. In this context, the article's main objective is to identify the composition, functioning, and challenges of economic agents in the production process that generates value for cow's milk in Gonzanamá canton. For that, information from 101 milk producers and two micro-entrepreneurs was applied and processed, supplemented with secondary information derived from government institutions and NGOs. We obtained a cow's milk value chain with six productive chains with their segmentation, features, and challenges. We concluded that Gonzanama's rural and local agri-food chain characterize by small farmers with traditional and temporary production systems, informality in the collection of raw materials, and transformed products. Micro-enterprises with scarce human talent, raw materials, infrastructure, and little differentiated products for the consumer market. Indirect agents only regulate agricultural activity and its value generation processes. Key words: Agri-food chain, Milk, Cattle, Dairy products.