Agric Minister backs Black Challenge with cash and Agribusiness pledge

Minister for Food and Agriculture Eric Opoku has donated GH¢50,000 to Ghana’s national amputee football team, the Black Challenge, 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. Opoku said Deputy Minister John Dumelo would coordinate the support after the players return from the tournament in Mexico.

The commitment gives substance to 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.The GH¢50,000 donation follows a GH¢100,000 contribution from dancehall artiste Stonebwoy. Together, the two contributions amount to GH¢150,000 in support for the team’s preparations.

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,” he said.

“The Honourable Dumelo will handle all of you.”Listing the proposed assistance, Opoku said the ministry would provide cages, laying birds, feed and the technical expertise to establish the players as poultry farmers, adding that the intention was for them to “have something to live on.”

The announcement extends the discussion of athlete welfare to income during and after competitive sport. For the players, a viable poultry enterprise could help support their households while they continue training and competing.

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.

Ghana will face Angola, Colombia and Iraq in Group D of the 2026 World Amputee Football Federation World Cup, scheduled for 13–22 November in San Juan de los Lagos, Mexico. Twenty-four national teams will compete for the title.

As the Black Challenge prepare for that contest, Opoku’s message combines national backing with a prospect of greater economic independence.

“You have the full support of the entire citizenry of this country,” he assured the players.