High prices of al-Adha sheep in war-stricken Sudan
News Report: Agencies
For the second year, the Sudanese celebrate Eid al-Adha, suffering the scourge of war that forced them to flee to safe areas within the Sudan or to neighbouring countries and high prices of sacrificial sheep.
While Eid al-Adha comes, the Sudanese lose the joy of celebrating it, many of the rituals that accompanied the Eid celebration disappear, and the economic secretions of the war contribute to diminishing the joy of the Sudanese at Eid.
The war created a difficult economic reality in the Sudan, and the majority of the Sudanese people were affected by the effects of the war, including the rise in prices and the devaluation of the national currency (pound).
A Xinhua news agency survey showed a significant rise in the price of sacrificial sheep in several markets in various regions of the Sudan.
In the Karri area of northern Omdurman, sheep prices ranged from 500 to 800 thousand Sudanese pounds, with one dollar equal to about 1,900 pounds.
Livestock dealer Djibril Mohamed Bashir attributed higher prices to war conditions and the difficulty in transporting livestock from production areas in western and central Sudan to the Sudanese capital.
In a special statement to Xinhua news agency, he said: "The difficulty of deportation has added significantly to the cost, and sheep come from their breeding grounds at high prices."
"There are other reasons for higher prices, including the scarcity of feed and its higher price, as well as the decline in the exchange rate of the national currency against the dollar."
In the Grand Cattle Market in Al Dabba, Northern State of Northern Sudan, the prices of sheep ranged from 400 to 600 thousand pounds.
Hamid Abdullah, a citizen of the city of Al-Dabba, complained about the substantial rise in the prices of Al-Dahia sheep, which he considered unjustified.
"We were surprised by this dramatic price rise, last year prices were within 100 thousand pounds for medium sheep, this year the price of medium sheep was about 500 thousand pounds," he said in a statement to Xinhua news agency yesterday.
"There is no justification for this fictional increase, especially because sheep exports outside the Sudan are small, and prices were supposed to fall."
In Port Sudan, Red Sea State, sheep prices ranged from 600 to 900 thousand Sudanese pounds.
"It is true that there is a significant increase in prices compared to last year, and the increase is over 100 percent," said Syed Ahmed Osman, a livestock dealer in Port Sudan.
He added that "the reasons for the rise are due to the effects of war, increased deportation and transportation fees and the suspension of movement from production areas in Kordofan and Darfur due to insecurity."
"There is also a rise in the prices of feed and veterinary medicines."
"We are displaced, we have lost business because of the war in Khartoum, we rely on remittances from our relatives abroad, and it is not logical to buy a sheep in the region of 500 thousand pounds."
In a statement to Xinhua news agency, he added, "This dramatic rise in sacrificial prices increases the pressure on citizens due to economic conditions and the effects of war."
The Sudanese show great adherence to Al-Adha a from religious and social angles, and the majority are keen to buy the sacrifice no matter how high the price.
Owing to war and insecurity, Government and popular initiatives aimed at providing affordable sacrificial sheep were absent this year.
Those (markets) that were intended to place prices that were accessible to all categories disappeared in order to prevent speculation and traders greed.
The initiatives of Sudanese government institutions, especially in the government sector, which were providing sacrificial sheep to their employees through a installment-selling programme, have also disappeared.
