Eid Al-Adha is fast approaching, and like Muslims all over the world, many Moroccans will sacrifice an animal as part of the festivities.
A drought has however reduced the amount of food available for flock.
The state is accustomed to supporting farmers and would give them two bags of fodder. This year Wahid Redouane’s farm was supplied with 30 and it wasn’t enough still.
“Due to drought, we are sometimes forced to sell sheep in order to get money to buy fodder for the other remaining sheep. This has caused prices to rise in the market, because we sell a number of sheep in order to control the situation and in order to preserve capital only.”
At a local market in Berrechid, northwestern Morocco, sheep are on sale ahead of Eid.
Prices have been rising for several years, but it’s more noticeable than ever now.
Moroccan sheep cost between 73 and 83 Dirhams (6.83 to 9.03 dollars) per kilogram. That means the average sheep costs up to 160 dollars more than it did last year.