TAJOURA, Libya: Worn down by conflict, poverty and the pandemic, many Libyans are gloomy this year on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha.
A usually bustling annual sheep market on the outskirts of the capital Tripoli lies largely deserted, lambs bleating in their wire-mesh pens with few customers in sight.
A handful of potential buyers eye the sacrificial animals, their makeshift enclosures partially shaded against the blazing summer sun, in the suburb of Tajoura.
Breeder Suleiman Ertel got up long before dawn to bring his livestock from his hometown of Zliten, about 140 km away, to the biggest animal market in western Libya.
For Muslims, the festival honors Prophet Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God, who then intervened and provided a sacrificial lamb instead.
The faithful commemorate this by ritually sacrificing an animal — a sheep, goat, cow or even a camel — and dividing it into three parts; for the poor, for relatives and for the home.
“Usually, in the days before the festival, people rush to buy their sheep,” Ertel said, his eyes scanning the dusty three-square-kilometer expanse.
But this year high livestock prices, a pandemic-driven fear of crowded markets, a financial crisis and heightened insecurity in Libya itself have all kept customers away.
For livestock farmers like him, Ertel said, “everything is more expensive. Fodder has doubled in price, but also transport costs between towns, because of insecurity on some routes.
“It’s discouraging,” he said. The country is also plagued by water shortages and power blackouts that hobble air-conditioners and also make it impossible to store meat in freezers.
The deplorable situation is compounded by the COVID-19 crisis, which has depressed global oil prices. The virus itself has flared again in Libya despite curfews, the closure of schools and mosques, and a travel ban.
In recent weeks, new infections have surged above 100 a day for the first time since the virus was detected in the North African country in late March.
There have been 3,017 confirmed cases and 67 deaths in Libya from the respiratory disease, deemed by many as underestimates in a divided country with a shattered public health system.
SPEEDREAD
• For livestock farmers, everything is more expensive. Fodder has doubled in price and also transport costs between towns, because of insecurity on some routes.
• The country is plagued by water shortages and power blackouts that hobble air-conditioners and also make it impossible to store meat in freezers.
At Tajoura’s market, Ahmed Al-Fallah spent his third day searching for a sheep he could afford, in a desperate bid to try to maintain the crucial religious and family tradition.
“I ask about prices without being able to buy anything,” he told AFP, keeping an eye on one of his three sons posing for a photo next to a sheep.
“I don’t have enough money. I think I’m going to have to borrow some.”
An average-sized sheep costs 1,200 to 1,400 dinars — too much for many Libyans who, even if they have the means, cannot withdraw enough cash from their bank accounts.
“Most banks have capped withdrawals at 1,000 dinars in the days leading up to the festival,” said Mohammed Kecher, another frustrated customer at the market.
“So we hesitate,” he said. “Should we spend it all on the sacrificial sheep or keep the money for the family’s expenses for a month?”
