Morocco urges people to not buy sheep for Eid al-Adha celebrations скачать в хорошем качестве

Morocco urges people to not buy sheep for Eid al-Adha celebrations

(28 Feb 2025) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4557936 RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Oulad Slama, Morocco - 27 February 2025 1. Pan of sheep feeding on Larbi El Ghazouani’s farm in Oulad Slama village 2. Various of sheep feeding 3. Various of sheep eating alfalfa 4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Larbi El Ghazouani, farm owner: ++STARTS ON SHOT 1++ "For me, the king's decision to cancel the Eid Al Adha sacrifice – I have been breeding sheep for a long time, and although these sheep will remain here, this will not be an obstacle for me. Though I wasted money on fodder and made an effort with these sheep, I respect the king's decision and am happy with it. Other sheep farmers are also suffering, but if the Ministry of Agriculture helps us, for example, with support in barley and grains, we will keep the herd." 5. Various of sheep entering stable STORYLINE: Sheep come running when Larbi El Ghazouani pours alfalfa and straw into their troughs twice a day. The 55-year-old farmer had counted on selling the bulk of his sheep to Moroccans preparing for early June's Eid Al-Adha holiday, but now his hopes are unraveling and he expects to lose around half of his investment. That's because, in a surprising break from tradition, King Mohammed VI on Wednesday urged Moroccans to forego buying sheep to be sacrificed during this year's holiday. "Though I wasted money on fodder and made an effort with these sheep, I respect the king's decision and am happy with it,” El Ghazouani said. “If the Ministry of Agriculture helps us, for example, with support in barley and grains, we will keep the herd." A seven-year drought has decimated the country's livestock, causing sheep prices to surge beyond the reach of working class families. Economic and climate-related challenges put the yearly sacrifice and feast out of reach for most Moroccans, Ahmed Toufiq, the kingdom’s minister of Islamic Affairs, said late Wednesday evening. Reading a letter from the King on state-run Al Aoula television, Toufiq said it was Morocco's duty to acknowledge circumstances in which livestock shortages have led prices to skyrocket. That's in part because of a six-year drought in North Africa that's caused unrelenting inflation to hit food markets. The sheep price spikes are driven by increasingly sparse pastures, which offer less grazing room and raise the costs of feed for herders and farmers. Morocco's agricultural minister told reporters earlier this month that rainfall this season was currently 53% below the last 30 years' annual average and sheep and cattle herds had shrunk 38% since 2016, the last time Morocco conducted a livestock census. The country has in recent years subsidized and imported livestock, including from Australia, Spain and Romania. The price of preferred domestic sheep can often exceed monthly household earnings in Morocco, where the monthly minimum wage remains 3,000 Moroccan dirhams ($302). It's the first time in 29 years that Morocco has asked citizens to forgo holiday feasting and reflects that food prices remain a struggle for many despite Morocco's transformation from a largely agrarian nation to a mixed economy whose cities have some of the Middle East and Africa's most modern infrastructure. King Hassan II issued similar decrees three times throughout his reign, during wartime, drought and when the IMF mandated Morocco end food subsidies. AP video shot by: Houda Benalla =========================================================== Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...