Rabat – With Eid Al Adha around a week away, Morocco is once again facing a familiar problem of sheep prices remaining high despite years of intervention, tax exemptions, and subsidy programs meant to stabilize the market.
This gap between policy spending and market outcomes has turned the red meat sector into a central case study of inflation management under the government of Aziz Akhannouch.
The Ministry of Agriculture says the country has between 8 and 9 million sheep and goats available for this year’s Eid, above the estimated demand of 6 to 7 million heads. Officials also say the national herd has recovered to around 40 million heads, spread across nearly 160,000 farms.
The numbers on paper suggest a more stable market than the one Morocco faced a year ago. But in practice, many households are complaining that the cost of purchasing sheep remains out of reach.
That contradiction has become one of the most politically sensitive economic issues facing the current government. Since taking office in 2021, Akhannouch’s government has spent billions of dirhams trying to contain food inflation and rebuild Morocco’s livestock sector after years of drought, shrinking herds, and rising feed costs. Yet meat prices have remained persistently high, fueling criticism that the government’s approach has failed to deliver meaningful relief to consumers.
The first major inflation shock came in 2023, when Morocco experienced some of the highest food inflation levels in decades. According to the High Commission for Planning (HCP), food prices rose by 18% in March 2023 compared to the previous year, while meat prices increased by 15.9%. Food inflation had already reached 20.1% in February 2023, while overall inflation peaked at 10.1%, levels Morocco had not seen in decades.
A policy built on imports and subsidies
Akhannouch’s government responded with a series of emergency measures focused largely on imports and tax relief. Authorities suspended VAT on several agricultural inputs and removed import duties on cattle, including beef imports from Brazil, in an effort to stabilize supply and ease pressure on prices.
That approach quickly became the backbone of the government’s meat policy.
Between October 2022 and the end of 2024, Morocco suspended import duties on cattle at an estimated fiscal cost of MAD 7.3 billion (~$730 million). The state also covered approximately MAD 744 million (~$74.4 million) in VAT on cattle imports. For sheep imports, the government spent another MAD 3.86 billion (~$386 million) on customs duty exemptions and MAD 1.16 billion (~$116 million) in VAT relief between 2023 and 2024.
The state also introduced a direct subsidy of MAD 500 (~$50) per sheep intended for Eid Al Adha slaughter during 2023 and 2024, costing roughly MAD 437 million (~$43.7 million) over two years.
Combined, these measures amount to nearly MAD 13.5 billion (~$1.35 billion) in public spending linked directly to livestock imports and meat market support.
Despite that spending, prices continued rising.
Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) data showed that meat inflation remained stubborn even as overall inflation began slowing. In its September 2024 monetary policy report, the central bank said fresh meat prices had risen by 11.4%. HCP data later showed meat prices increasing by 9.7% in February 2025 and remaining under pressure throughout much of the year.
Meat inflation that refuses to fall
By April 2026, retail sheep meat prices had reportedly reached around MAD 150 (~$15) per kilogram, while beef prices ranged between MAD 80 and MAD 120 (~$8-12/kg) depending on origin. Wholesale sheep meat prices hovered between MAD 120 and MAD 130 (~$12-13) per kilogram.
The persistence of high prices despite massive state intervention has become a central point of criticism against Akhannouch’s government.
Critics argue that the government focused heavily on subsidizing imports and large supply chains while failing to address deeper structural problems inside Morocco’s meat market. The system still relies heavily on intermediaries, transport networks, wholesalers, and fluctuating feed costs before products reach consumers.
Even government-backed import relief did not necessarily translate into lower prices at the retail level.
Around 133 importers benefited from bovine-related exemptions, while 156 importers participated in livestock import operations during 2023 and 2024. The criticism is not simply that the government intervened, but that much of the support flowed through import channels and large operators rather than directly toward households struggling with inflation.
The Akhannouch factor
The issue became even more politically charged because of Akhannouch himself.
Before becoming prime minister, Akhannouch served as Morocco’s Agriculture Minister from 2007 to 2021, overseeing many of the sector’s long-term agricultural strategies. He is also one of Morocco’s wealthiest businessmen through the Akwa Group conglomerate, whose interests span fuel distribution and other sectors. Forbes Africa estimates the Akhannouch family fortune at around $1.6 billion.
That background has made the meat and inflation crisis particularly damaging politically. Critics and opposition voices have increasingly linked the government’s economic policies to broader accusations of elite-driven governance and policies that favor large economic actors over ordinary consumers.
فكيف لرئيس الحكومة المسمى اخنوش وضع يده على كل مقدرات الشعب من الماء الى الكهرباء الى الفلاحة الى الطاقة ولا احد حرك ضده (من اين لك هدا) يقولون ان هناك جهات عليا تشاركه في كل مشريعه وبالتالي هي من تحميه. لكن الى متى هدا الوضع البئيس.
عيد الاضحى على الابواب وحكومة الفراقشة فرحانة. pic.twitter.com/qMBUQg0THr— وجدي خالص (@QnatSr) May 18, 2026
Public frustration intensified further in 2025, when Morocco took the extraordinary step of effectively canceling Eid Al Adha slaughter after years of drought severely weakened the national herd.
In February 2025, King Mohammed VI called on Moroccans to abstain from slaughtering sheep during Eid because of worsening livestock conditions. At the time, Morocco’s cattle and sheep herds had fallen by 38% since the previous national census, while rainfall levels were 53% below the historical average.
The decision reflected the depth of the crisis facing the livestock sector despite years of state intervention.
Even then, the Akhannouch government continued relying on emergency import measures. Morocco suspended import duties and VAT on livestock and red meat while arranging imports of up to 100,000 sheep from Australia in an attempt to stabilize supply and prices.
Yet one year later, prices remain elevated.
This year, official figures suggest that herd conditions have improved and that supply exceeds expected demand for Eid Al Adha. However, many consumers say the market still feels disconnected from official optimism.
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Amid this gap, Agriculture Minister Ahmed El Bouari recently added to the confusion during a parliamentary session when he stated that sheep prices could start as low as MAD 1,000 (~$100). The remark quickly triggered widespread reactions, with many citizens and market observers questioning its accuracy, saying such prices were not reflected in livestock markets across the country.
Facing the backlash, El Bouari later clarified his statement, saying he had misspoken. He said that current sheep prices actually start at around MAD 2,000 to MAD 2,500 (~$200-200). However, even this corrected range was met with skepticism from consumers, who argued that sheep sold in markets are often priced significantly higher, particularly for animals suitable for Eid sacrifice, where even smaller sheep frequently exceed the lower end of that range.
The discrepancy between official price estimates and what households encounter in local markets has further reinforced perceptions of a persistent disconnect between government messaging and real purchasing power on the ground.
According to local reports, households said they hoped sheep prices would stay between MAD 2,000 and 3,000 (~$200-300), but medium-sized sheep are selling for MAD 4,000 to 5,000 (~$400-500), while even smaller ones rarely cost less than MAD 3,000 (~$300).
Breeders, meanwhile, say rising feed, transport, veterinary, and labor costs continue to drive prices higher despite state subsidies. Some said rising feed prices quickly consumed the aid they received, while others reported receiving no support at all.
Many citizens took to social media to express their frustration with the high sheep prices. “One resident told local media: “How can people buy the Eid sacrifice when MAD 3,000, which is the minimum wage for an entire month of work, wouldn’t even buy one sheep?”
Part of the explanation lies in the cumulative impact of years of drought and rising production costs, Mohamed Jebli, head of the Moroccan Federation for the Livestock Sector, told SNRTnews. Feed prices remain high, transportation costs continue affecting distribution, and breeders who kept livestock after the cancellation of Eid slaughter in 2025 faced additional maintenance costs over the past year.
The ‘Chennaqa’ syndrome
Sector representatives have also pointed to the role of intermediaries, known in Morocco as “Chennaqa,” who buy sheep from smaller breeders and resell them later at significantly higher prices during Eid season.
But critics say these explanations no longer fully account for the scale of the problem after years of public spending.
The government launched in 2025 another major intervention package worth MAD 12.8 billion (~$1.28 billion) for 2025-2026, aimed at rebuilding the national herd. The program includes subsidies for feed purchases, breeding stock support, debt restructuring, vaccination campaigns, and technical assistance for breeders.
Authorities said the first phase reached approximately 1.15 million breeders. Additional support measures include MAD 400 (~$40) per breeding ewe and MAD 300 (~$30) per breeding goat.
The scale of these interventions reflects the severity of the crisis, but also raises larger questions about the sustainability of Morocco’s current approach.
After years of subsidies, tax exemptions, import facilitation, and emergency recovery programs, Morocco’s meat market still behaves like a sector under constant crisis management rather than long-term reform.
That reality has turned Eid Al Adha into more than a religious or seasonal event. It has morphed into a political and economic test for Akhannouch, who has confirmed he will not run in the September 2026 legislative elections, and his government, which has arguably failed to ease the pressure of rising living costs despite repeated subsidy programs and market interventions.
This discontent has also spilled into the streets and social media in recent years, with protests over high prices and purchasing power, including the youth-led Gen Z demonstrations, alongside recurring calls for Akhannouch to step down.
Hashtags and online campaigns such as “Akhannouch Get Out” have circulated widely during periods of inflation and fuel and food price increases, reflecting broader frustration over the cost of living and the perception that economic relief measures have not reached ordinary households.
Still, for many Moroccan households, the issue is no longer whether the state intervened. The question is why billions of dirhams in public support have not translated into stable and affordable prices.
