Economist and Dean of the University Cape Coast Business School, Prof. John Gasti has advised the incoming John Mahama administration to work at reducing food inflation.

He is of the view that such a move will bring some relief to households, particularly majority of the population who spend a lot of their income on food.

Data released by the Ghana Statistical Service showed that food inflation increased to 25.9 percent in November 2024 from 22.8 percent recorded on October this year.

Speaking to Joy Business, Prof. Gatsi said cost of foodstuff is a pressing issue that must addressed by the Mahama administration to bring overall inflation down.

“It is very clear that food inflation is an issue. The next administration should deploy its policy makers to address food inflation. That will also mean that you need to step up production of the food items that would have lacked in the production process and that is very important”, he said.

Providing some recommendations, Prof. Gatsi pointed out that investment in agriculture must be targeted to make it effective.

According to him, the Ministry of Agriculture must reassess its operations and set targets that will help reduce food inflation, ultimately impacting the cost of food in the market.

“It is also important that the new administration will now think about how finances would be directed to the rural economy where most of the food production takes place, for me that is key”.

He stressed that investment in agriculture will have a direct link to other sectors of the economy to stimulate growth.