A commodity chain refers to the whole range of activities involved in the design, production, and marketing of a product (Gereffi, 1999: 38). The notion of commodity chains was first introduced by Hopkins and Wallerstein (1986, 1994), based upon this Gereffi introduced the concept of commodity chain analysis. Global commodity (or value) chain analysis is also linked to the French empirical tradition of filière (chain) studies.

Anna Laven uses Global Value Chain analysis to come up with more inclusive ways of upgrading for small-scale cocoa farmers in Ghana.