CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) — Flocks of sheep once quilted Morocco’s mountain pastures, stretched across Algeria’s vast plateaus and grazed along Tunisia’s green coastline. But the cascading effects of climate change have sparked a region-wide shortage that is being felt acutely as Muslims throughout North Africa celebrate Eid al-Adha.
Each year, Muslims slaughter sheep to honor a passage of the Quran in which the prophet Ibrahim prepared to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God, who intervened and replaced the child with a sheep.
But this year, rising prices and falling supply are creating new challenges, breeders and potential buyers throughout the region say.
At a market in suburban Algiers last week, breeders explained to angry patrons that their prices had increased because the cost of everything needed to raise sheep, including animal feed, transport and veterinary care, had grown.
Slimane Aouadi stood watching livestock pens, discussing with his wife whether to buy a sheep to celebrate this year’s Eid.
“It’s the same sheep as the one I bought last year, the same look and the same weight, but it costs $75 more,” Aouadi, a doctor, told The Associated Press.
Amid soaring inflation, sheep can sell for more than $1,200, an exorbitant amount in a country where average monthly incomes hover below $270.
Tradition meets reality
Any …