Inside Morocco’s ‘Fraqchia’ Crisis and the Billions That Failed Consumers

Tantan – As Eid Al Adha approaches, many Moroccan families are facing the same hard question: how can they afford a sheep when prices keep climbing, even after repeated government promises, subsidies, and tax breaks?

Many Moroccans now refer to the controversy as the “Fraqchia crisis,” using a local term associated with livestock traders and middlemen accused of driving up prices and profiting from the market turmoil.

That gap between public spending and what people actually pay is at the center of the third issue of Milafat magazine, which describes what it calls “the government of lobbies” and says MAD 76 billion in public support was drained into a system that did not protect consumers. According to the investigation, that total includes direct support, customs exemptions, and tax relief given in the name of defending purchasing power.

A concentrated market under pressure

The investigation argues that the problem is not just a temporary shortage or a bad season. It says the real issue is a chain of power that stretches from feed and grain imports to livestock, slaughterhouses, wholesalers, and retailers. The investigation documents how a few large players have come to dominate the market, leaving ordinary families to absorb the final cost.

That alarming finding is especially relevant now as Morocco is still living with the effects of years of drought and pressure on livestock. In 2025, the country’s cattle and sheep herds had fallen by 38% since 2016, and rainfall that year was 53% below the average of the past 30 years. The government responded by suspending import duties and VAT on cattle, sheep, camels, and red meat, while also arranging imports of livestock.

At the same time, King Mohammed VI asked citizens not to slaughter sheep for Eid in 2025 because the price burden was too heavy for many families. Morocco also planned to import up to 100,000 sheep from Australia and had removed taxes on livestock and meat imports to calm the market.

But Milafat says that public intervention has not brought the relief people expected. The investigation traces the problem back to 2022, when drought, global inflation, and the war in Ukraine pushed up grain, feed, and fuel costs. It says the government reacted with emergency support, but often treated the symptoms instead of fixing the structure of the market.

Prices that never return to normal

One of the main findings is that the price of feed stayed high even after world prices eased. It says compound feed rose from about MAD 2.8 per kilo before the 2022 crisis to MAD 4 or 4.5 in 2023 and 2024, and around MAD 5 in 2025, with no real return to earlier levels. The report laments that this happened even though global prices for corn, soy, wheat, and Brent oil had fallen back from their peaks.

The investigation also points to the retail side of the meat market. The price of beef in cities climbed from MAD 68.3 per kilo in 2018 to MAD 103.8 in February 2025, while lamb rose from MAD 72.9 to MAD 134.6 over the same period. It adds that the gap between slaughterhouse prices and consumer prices widened sharply, which means the final price kept rising even when import costs and feed costs were easing.

That is why this year’s Eid debate feels bigger than one holiday. It is about trust. Families are being told that support is in place, that imports will help, and that the market is under control. Yet the prices on the ground tell a different story. Sheep still cost more than many households can pay, and national reports show the market remains tense only days before Eid.

The Milafat investigation does not just blame weather or world markets. It argues that Morocco’s meat and feed sectors have become too concentrated, too protected, and too weakly monitored. In its telling, public money flowed in large amounts, but the benefits were captured by a narrow circle of importers, feed suppliers, and market intermediaries.

For many Moroccan families, the result is simple: the sheep for Eid is still too expensive, and the promises have not matched the price tag. The magazine’s report suggests that unless the government changes how the market is regulated, more public money may keep disappearing without bringing real relief to consumers.