Minister for Food and Agriculture Eric Opoku on Monday presented GH¢50,000 to Ghana’s national amputee football team, the Black Challenge, at their training ground, and pledged a poultry enterprise package for eight locally based players, linking World Cup preparations with economic opportunities beyond the pitch.
The proposed package includes battery cages, laying birds, feed and technical expertise.
The commitment strengthens the link between agriculture and sport: backing athletes to represent Ghana while helping them build businesses and contribute to the country’s food production.
Opoku announced the support during a visit to the team’s training session at the University of Ghana. He was accompanied by Dumelo, the ministry’s Chief Director and its budget officer.
“You are going to hold the flag of Ghana, and our presence here indicates that the whole nation is behind you,” he told the players.
The minister said the team needed motivational and financial support to prepare for the international assignment, urging the players to compete with confidence.
“You are stronger than you know,” he said, encouraging them to make Ghana proud.
Opoku said he had been informed that the team comprised eight locally based players and seven based in Turkey.
He invited the eight players based in Ghana to join the government’s Nkoko Nketenkete poultry programme after the World Cup.
“The Ministry of Food and Agriculture is putting together a special package, so as soon as you return, get in touch with us. The Honourable Dumelo will handle all of you,” he said.
Listing the proposed assistance, Opoku said the ministry would provide cages, laying birds, feed, and the technical expertise to help the players establish themselves as poultry farmers, adding that the intention was for them to “have something to live on.”
Opoku also connected the pledge to the ministry’s national responsibility to produce enough food for Ghanaians and generate a surplus for export.
Nkoko Nketenkete is the household and backyard poultry component of the Feed Ghana Programme, launched by President John Dramani Mahama. The programme’s stated aims include improving food security and household incomes through increased domestic production.
Extending participation to the Black Challenge would give that agricultural agenda a practical expression of inclusion, recognising athletes with disabilities as potential entrepreneurs and producers.
If delivered with accessible training, suitable facilities and continuing technical support, the package could provide an example for cooperation between sports institutions and agricultural agencies. The broader opportunity is to create pathways through which other Para athletes can participate in agribusiness on terms suited to their interests and circumstances.
The players have been asked to contact the ministry after returning from Mexico. The commitment now gives the ministry and the team a clear basis for agreeing how the promised enterprises will be established and supported.
Twenty-four national teams will compete for the title, with Ghana in Group D alongside Angola, Colombia and Iraq at the 2026 World Amputee Football Federation World Cup, scheduled for 13–22 November in San Juan de los Lagos, Mexico.
By Sammy Heywood Okine
