Eid Al-Adha: Sheep Prices Plummet as Buyers Stay Away in Morocco

For several days, on several platforms in the Casablanca-Settat region, a great gloom is palpable, reports L’Économiste. In reality, on the ground, the supply is abundant, however, the clientele is absent. According to the same media, this situation has forced breeders to sell Sardi, Tamhdite and Bergui lambs "at prices never recorded for several decades". Despite this, the markets receive many visitors but very few buyers.

For their part, the breeders hoped to see the trend reverse with the payment of salaries and state aid expected at the beginning of this week. However, unfortunately, the government has decreed "the closure of eight cities located on the Tangier-Casablanca-Marrakech axis".

Yet, observes the same source, this is "an axis where the majority of the population is concentrated, but also the bulk of the supply of sheep and goats". Indeed, on the occasion of the Feast of Sacrifice, Casablanca empties of its traders and construction workers who take advantage of their "annual leave". Here in particular, the newspaper indicates that it is "this population that provides the sheep to the family", adding that the same phenomenon is also observed for cities like "Tangier, Rabat and Kenitra where thousands of young people from elsewhere are active".

As a result, the news of the closure of the cities concerned, which came without warning, quickly fueled the anger of this population who were about to join their loved ones. In the wake, the government in a press release, announced "additional measures that operators must observe" throughout the chain of sale of animals until the day of the sacrifice. These measures are contained in "the publication of a guide to preventive health measures to be respected, in particular by butchers and other organizational measures to be introduced in livestock markets". The press release also mentions "the opening of additional temporary markets for Eid Al Adha". To all this is added the strengthening of the control of the transport of animals throughout the territory.