Ghana’s national amputee football team, the Black Challenge, have received GH¢50,000 from Minister for Food and Agriculture Eric Opoku, who has also promised to establish poultry businesses for eight locally based players after the 2026 World Amputee Football Federation World Cup.
The proposed support will include battery cages, laying birds, feed and technical expertise. Deputy Minister John Dumelo is expected to coordinate the package when the players return from the tournament in Mexico.
Opoku made the commitments while visiting the team during a training session at the University of Ghana. He was joined 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,” Opoku told the players.
He said the Black Challenge required both financial and motivational backing ahead of their international assignment, and urged the squad to approach the competition with confidence.
“You are stronger than you know,” he added, encouraging the players to represent Ghana with distinction.
The minister’s donation follows a GH¢100,000 contribution from dancehall artiste Stonebwoy, taking the total raised for the team’s preparations to GH¢150,000.
Opoku said he understood that the squad consisted of eight players based in Ghana and seven based in Turkey. He invited the eight Ghana-based players to take part in the government’s Nkoko Nketenkete poultry programme once they had returned from 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.
He said the ministry would provide the equipment and resources required to establish the players as poultry farmers, including cages, laying birds, feed and technical support. The aim, he added, was for the players to “have something to live on”.
Nkoko Nketenkete is the household and backyard poultry component of the Feed Ghana Programme, launched by President John Dramani Mahama. Its stated objectives include improving food security and increasing household incomes through greater domestic production.
Opoku linked the initiative to the ministry’s wider responsibility to produce enough food for Ghana and create a surplus for export. The proposed businesses would also offer the players a source of income while they continue to train and compete.
The Black Challenge have been drawn in Group D at the 2026 World Amputee Football Federation World Cup, where they will face Angola, Colombia and Iraq. The tournament will take place from November 13 to 22 in San Juan de los Lagos, Mexico.
Twenty-four national teams will compete for the title.
“You have the full support of the entire citizenry of this country,” Opoku assured the players.
