•Collaborative arrangements shaped by local farmers are social innovation that may help them to overcome structural barriers and promote their inclusion in sustainable rural development•Collaborations are comprised of two main arrangements - collective action and partnership - which may reinforce each other and they have been built through bonding and bridging social capital•Middle-scale farmers, who hold significant political, social and human capital, are particularly relevant local actor to develop more autonomous collaborative arrangements•The engagement and agency of local farmers provide concrete examples of the potential of local governance based on collaborative arrangements to support sustainable farming production systems•Engagement of external actors (e.g., private companies, researchers, NGOs and state organizations) are important to support bottom up social innovations when farmers keep their autonomy and occupy a central position as agents in collaborative arrangements Brazilian small-scale farmers are seeking new types of collaborations and economic opportunities amid a changing world. Market opportunities, however, have incurred demanding environmental, financial and labor requirements, and created trade-offs between expanding cash crops and maintaining livelihood security. We analyze the Tomé-Açu region in the Brazilian Amazon, where different collaborative models between small-scale farmers and other social agents (industries, government, non-governmental organizations) have emerged. Local farmers are engaging in collective actions and pursuing different types of partnerships, which facilitate knowledge exchange and access to market niches, also helping them overcome the infrastructural and logistical deficiencies that have historically limited rural development in the region. In particular, we discuss the diffusion and adoption of agroforestry and oil palm production systems among small-scale farmers. We examine the challenges and opportunities these partnerships and social innovations have created for local farmers, who are part of heterogeneous groups with distinct roles, assets and contexts. The state-led oil palm program posed challenges to small-scale farmers who experienced asymmetrical relationships within their partnership with private companies. On the other hand, the farmer-led agroforestry model opened new opportunities for farmers who had more flexibility in deciding their production arrangements, developing new agroforestry techniques, and pursuing commercialization pathways. Despite their limited power, small-scale farmers have been able to overcome some structural barriers through innovations, entrepreneurship, and renegotiation of oil palm contract farming. Thus, their ability to engage in both farmer-led agroforestry and state-led oil palm programs provides concrete examples of the potential of local governance based on collaborative arrangements to support sustainable farming production systems.