As the countries of the Middle East celebrate Eid al-Adha, many are complaining regarding the high food prices, which prevents them from being able to afford the sacrifices this year.
During the four days of Eid al-Adha, sheep, goats and cows that are at least one year old are sacrificed. According to tradition, the meat is shared with the poor and relatives.
Transferring a newspaper report The Wall Street Journal A number of people from Arab countries said that prices this year have reached “crazy” levels.
And food prices increased, driven by high oil prices, and the disruption of supply chains due to the Russian war on Ukraine, which prompted the governments of countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to enhance social support programs to help the poor classes.
The report pointed out that the rise in food prices, especially livestock, prompted many people to cooperate with their relatives and friends to buy a sacrifice to preserve the religious traditions and rituals that they perform annually on Eid al-Adha.
In some Arab countries, such as Egypt, the price increase crisis worsened, especially following the devaluation of the Egyptian pound, which increased the costs of feed and transport for livestock.
Ahmed Ibrahim, 37, told the Wall Street Journal that “following he used to buy a sheep every year, he had to share the price of this year’s sacrifice with his brother.”
Atwa Mohamed, 41, an Egyptian citizen, told the newspaper, “Everyone I know who used to slaughter the sacrifice on this holiday will not do so this year… Prices have gone up by crazy exaggerations everywhere.”
Umm Othman, a 57-year-old Iraqi from Baghdad, works as a chef. She said that she used to receive many requests to prepare “baja”, “traditional Iraqi dishes” in which she cooks “sheep’s heads” and other portions of them, but only received two requests this year.
The newspaper monitored a rise in the prices of the sacrifice of sheep by more than 50 percent in the Egyptian market, as it rose from levels of 100-200 dollars for a sheep, to become the average price of 150 to 300 dollars.
In the Saudi city of Jeddah, the price of a goat sacrifice increased from regarding $425 to regarding $590.
A report published by Agence France-Presse indicates that the prices of sacrifices in Turkey have tripled, in light of inflation, which reached 79 percent on an annual basis, according to official data, and 175 percent, according to a group of independent Turkish economists, as a result of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s unconventional monetary policy. .
The newspaper report explains that the increase in livestock prices in the Arab countries has mostly affected families with “low and middle” incomes, which have to deal with various increases in the prices of other basic commodities.
