Eid al-Adha sheep sellers lure Maghreb customers

'E-sheep', supermarket rams, shady dealers and livestock on advertising billboards; Maghreb celebrants see it all for Eid al-Adha.

By Nazim Fethi in Algiers, Siham Ali in Rabat and Jamel Arfaoui in Tunis for Magharebia - 12/11/10

A few days before the celebration of sacrifice, the purchase of the perfect ram is a top priority across the Maghreb. Vendors are turning to new tactics to entice buyers.

In Morocco, the latest consumer trend is Eid al-Adha sheep shopping on the internet. Bank executive Tahiri Hamid is among those who find the method more efficient than searching traditional markets. He says that while web prices are reasonable, sheep in the souks vary from one retailer to another.

"Intermediaries are driving up prices," he complains."One must be a specialist to haggle and buy a good quality ram."

Chakir Lahrizi sells sheep online from his farm in Douar Ouled Moumen. "I had the idea to operate on the internet to reach customers and have a direct relationship with people disgusted by the lying and dishonesty in the markets," he tells Magharebia.

Even Moroccans living abroad are shopping online for his animals. "I just realized a sale from Belgium," he said. "It's from a Moroccan national buying the sheep for his family in Rabat."

"The web is starting to take a prominent place in Moroccan transactions," he adds.

Fatima Zohra Hanini has been buying her ram online for the last two years. "Initially, the idea seemed bizarre. But I tried my luck and I was not disappointed."

"It's better than strolling through the market and getting ripped off by middlemen or getting mugged by pickpockets," she says.

Other Moroccans, like nurse Ahmed Bantoufi, prefer supermarkets that sell by the kilogram. They say they can find good quality at reasonable prices.

They also like to see their rams before they buy.

"I dare not make purchases online because I like to choose my sheep live," he tells Magharebia.

While Moroccans have become accustomed to supermarket sheep, it is a new phenomenon in Algeria this year.

Algerian parents cannot disappoint their children. They must buy the sheep before Eid so that the children can walk them and look after them. But now they can pick out the special ram at the same place where they can buy everything else: the supermarket.

Algeria's Bab Ezzouar shopping center has been open for just a few months. The carpark of the 50,000 sq meter mall outside Algiers accommodates 10,000 cars.

Right now, it is filled with rams.

Sheep cost nearly 25,000 DA at the "Uno" megamarket - and they come with a "good health" warranty. The price at "Uno" can be as much as 13,000 dinars less than anywhere else.

In an effort to curb rising prices, the Ministry of Agriculture put 30,000 affordable rams on the market. But this amount is tiny compared to the estimated annual demand of 2.3 million sheep.

The national flock this year reached 22.5 million healthy heads, the Agriculture Ministry asserted on Monday (November 8th). General Union of Algerian Traders and Artisans (UGCAA) chief Boulenouar Tahar refuted that claim, however, stating that at least 10% of the sheep offered for sale are sick.

Part of the problem comes from itinerant livestock traders.

Mohamed Faid sells sheep during the period of the Eid. "I bring about thirty sheep, no more, just enough to make me a good profit. But I at least know what a sheep is, not like those young people who think that selling a sheep is like selling a shirt," he tells Magharebia.

Algerians also face a unique issue during Eid. To a much greater degree than their Maghreb neighbors, they are very passionate about their bread.

Algerians eat nearly 49 million baguettes per day, according to a study released August by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). They are the biggest bread consumers in the world, so it is no surprise that they worry about the risk of shortages during the Festival of Sacrifice.

In order to prevent bakery closures, the Ministry of Commerce just issued a nationwide directive requiring bakeries to ensure the production of bread for the two days of Eid.

"Any baker who does not respect the timetable will have his commercial register withdrawn and his premises closed," National Union of Bakers chief Youcef Kalafat says.

Along with the bread-selling mandate, Algeria mounted new government efforts to regulate the sheep trade and outlaw undocumented sheep transport.

Instead, the result has been a thriving market for Algeria's informal economy. Everywhere - from garages to the sides of the roads - occasional vendors offer sheep for sale. It is a good way to make money. The trick is simple for these livestock trabendistes: target one or two wholesale livestock markets in the steppe zones, fill up a few trucks and wait for the profits to roll in.

Maghreb neighbor Tunisia has found a compromise for customers who desire both affordable prices and the opportunity to see their ram in-person: livestock sales at expo halls normally used to sell posh perfumes, clothes and cars.

The sheep of Eid al-Adha are lined up inside the tents just like pots and cloths in shop racks.

The decision by three major commercial spaces in the capital to showcase livestock has angered traditional traders.

"I do not understand why large commercial spaces compete with us," laments shepherd and sheep trader Hassouna Hazami. "The Eid is an opportunity for breeders to achieve some profit, especially since the markets for selling sheep have been in a depression," he tells Magharebia.

According to a recent national survey, 85 percent of Tunisians buy a ram. Nearly fifty percent of survey respondents also admitted to cutting back on other monthly expenses to finance the purchase.

Bachir Ben Amer brought his two sons to the convention hall tents to choose a sheep for the celebration but was disappointed by the high price.

"I have to try my luck in the traditional markets," he says. ''At least there I can negotiate."

Livestock trader Salem Azizi thinks that selling rams in commercial spaces makes the Eid lose its special value. "I would feel like I am buying a TV or an air-conditioner," he says.

Fellow shepherd Tahar Mahouachi agrees that exposition halls are no place to buy the sacrificial sheep.

"Tomorrow, I will start selling food and cooking utensils and electronic equipment inside slaughterhouses," he jokes.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/reportage/2010/11/12/reportage-01.