Travel Ban in Morocco Deals Farmers a Heavy Blow

With Eid Al-Adha around the corner, Moroccan farmers were eager to sell their sheep. A way to compensate for their losses during the pandemic, as the country’s economy became paralysed during the confinement. But Sunday evening, the Moroccan government imposed travel restrictions in 8 of the country’s biggest cities, such as Casablanca, Marrakech or Tangier. The order only 5 hours before in came into application, following a spike of COVID 19 infections, as the country saw more contaminations in the past week than it did in the past four months, according to Health Minister Khalid Ait Taleb. The restrictions rendered sales almost impossible for the famers. Just a day before the Muslim celebration. If rural areas have reported less infections than the big cities, droughts have made it very difficult for farmers to bounce back after the confinement. According to a study by the High Commission for Planning, in charge of official statistics, “The drop in income has impacted 70 percent of the rural population compared to 59 percent of urban dwellers”. As much as 77 percent of farmers have seen their revenues fall in recent months.

SOURCE: AFRICA NEWS