The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, has disclosed that Ghana needs at least GH¢1.5 billion to manage the growing food glut across the country, warning that inadequate funding and limited storage infrastructure are making it difficult to support farmers.Speaking to JoyNews on Friday, June 19, the minister said the government anticipated a bumper harvest when preparing the 2025 Budget and initially allocated GH¢100 million to purchase excess produce from farmers.According to him, the allocation was based on the expectation that increased investment in agriculture and nationwide advocacy campaigns would boost food production.“In the preparation of the 2025 Budget, we envisaged that, looking at the investment and the campaign and advocacy we have embarked upon, there’s the likelihood that Ghana is going to experience gluts,” the Minister said.He explained that the government had planned to use the allocation to absorb excess food supplies and stabilise the market.“When that happens, how are we going to mop up the excess? So, we budgeted for GH¢100 million to be able to contain that,” he stated.However, as the farming season progressed, officials realised that the amount was far below what was required.“When the year ended, we realised that the GH¢100 million was woefully inadequate to be able to do that,” the minister said.He disclosed that the matter was presented to President John Mahama, who approved additional funding.“We made a case before His Excellency the President. Then the President said, ‘Let’s provide an additional GH¢200 million to make a total of GH¢300 million,'” he revealed.Despite the increase, the minister said the funds remain insufficient to address the scale of the surplus food production.“Even with the GH¢300 million, we cannot because it is so huge. We deployed our technical people to the field, and when they came back, they reported to us that we need at least GH¢1.5 billion to be able to contain the excess that we are witnessing,” he said.Mr Opoku admitted that the government currently lacks the financial capacity to meet that demand.“Now we don’t have the resources. But you are also aware that our budget is already overstretched. So this is a challenge that we have encountered. But going forward, we’ll try to see how we can overcome it,” he added.Responding to concerns about farmers who are struggling to sell their produce, the minister said funding is only one part of the challenge.“Even if you have the funds today, we don’t have the storage facilities. That’s also another matter,” he said.According to him, Ghana has never experienced food surpluses on the current scale and therefore lacks the infrastructure needed to preserve large volumes of produce.“Because we haven’t experienced this before, we have not built that capacity to be able to contain it. Our warehouses are already full. We are now looking for private ones to rent, and when you engage them, the prices they are quoting are becoming unbearable,” Mr Opoku explained.He said the government is managing the situation while working on a long-term solution centred on expanding storage capacity across the country.“We have taken a decision to provide a lasting solution to this. We are working on the provision of storage facilities,” he said.The minister disclosed that President Mahama has directed the Ministry to construct storage facilities in strategic locations to support future harvests.“The President has given us the assurance, and he has given us some directives. Let’s build storage facilities in strategic areas,” he stated.He added that the ministry had also assessed storage facilities constructed during the administration of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, to determine whether they could be rehabilitated.“Those built by Nkrumah, we asked somebody to go around and get us information as to whether we can use them. We realised that all of them cannot be used,” the Minister said.