Definition:

              The theory of supply tries to explain the behaviour of producers as they strived to maximize profit from their sales. Supply is the quantity of a good or service offered for sale at a particular price over a given period of time. For any definition or statement about supply to be complete, the quantity, the price, the time period and the place (market) must be mentioned e. g. The supply for palm oil in Limbe market is 10000 litres per day at the price of 600frs per litres.

             Supply therefore is not the same thing as "amount available or existing stock."It is that amount of a good actually brought to the market by the producers at a given price in a given period of time for sale.

 Supply schedule

            The basic characteristic of supply for a normal good is that the quantity supplied is directly or positively related to the price of the good. This characteristic is reflected in a supply schedule.

A supply schedule is a table that shows various quantities of a commodity that a supplier is willing and able to offer for sale at various prices in a particular market over a period of time.

              Types of supply schedule

There are two types of supply schedule namely individual supply schedule and market supply schedule.

1. Individual supply schedule: It is a table showing the quantities of a product supplied at different prices by an individual supplier in the market during a particular period of time.
2. Market supply schedule: A market supply schedule is also known as composite supply schedule. A market supply schedule is a table showing the quantities of a product supplied at different prices by different individual suppliers in the market at a given period of time. The market supply for a commodity is composed of all the individuals that make up the market. Thus a supply schedule portrays a series of alternative possibilities of price-quantity relationships as illustrated in the schedule below;

                           The supply schedule indicates a direct relationship between price and quantity supplied. From the schedule, it is clear that as the price per kg of the commodity falls from 5000 CFA to 1000 CFA, the quantity supplied decreases from 442 to 6o kg per period. Alternatively, when the price rises from 1000 CFA to 5000 CFA, the quantity supplied increases from 60 to 442 kg per period.

This direct relationship between price and quantity of a good supplied can be represented diagrammatically, known as the supply curve.