Morocco’s King Calls Off Eid al-Adha Sacrifice Amid Livestock Crisis

This decision, welcomed by the Moroccan Federation for Consumer Protection, comes after the Minister of Agriculture, Ahmed El Bouari, revealed a significant decrease in the national herd. The figures are clear: a 38% drop since 2016, the result of seven consecutive years of drought. This situation has led to a reduction in meat production, requiring imports to meet demand.

The president of the Union, Mohamed Kimaoui, told Al3omk that this royal initiative "puts an end to crisis profiteers". He believes that the King has made a decision that "officials have not been able to make".

By substituting citizens for the sacrifice, King Mohammed VI eases the pressure on the market. Nearly six million head of livestock, usually sacrificed during Eid, will thus be preserved.

The Federation calls for accompanying measures, in particular the prohibition of slaughtering females of all species, a sine qua non condition for the reconstitution of the herd, also hoping for a royal intervention to cap prices and counter speculation.

King Mohammed VI, in a message read by Ahmed Toufiq, Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, invoked the tradition of the Prophet: "We will do it if God wills, on behalf of Our people, faithful in this to the Sunnah of Our Ancestor the Prophet, may peace and blessings be upon Him, when He had sacrificed two rams saying: "This one is for me, this other one is for my Ummah."