KHARTOUM (AA) - With Eid al-Adha around the corner, many Sudanese families are unable to afford feast staples this year due to skyrocketing prices sparked by last month's government decision to lift state subsidies on fuel and other basic commodities.
Hamza al-Badawi, a 40-year-old sheep trader, told the Anadolu Agency that prices for sheep – a favoured animal for sacrifice in Sudan – had doubled since last year to 1,400 Sudanese pounds (roughly $200).
"People can no longer afford to buy from us," al-Badawi said. "How can we export animals to other countries while our own people can't afford it?"
According to government figures, Sudanese cattle exports during this year's Hajj pilgrimage and Eid al-Adha amounted to more than three million heads of cattle – up 25 percent from last year – with revenues estimated at more than $200 million.
Eid al-Adha, or the Eid al-Kabeer as the Sudanese like to call it, will begin here on Tuesday.
Muslims who can afford it should sacrifice a sheep – or share in sacrificing a cow or camel – in a ritual commemorating Prophet Ibrahim's willingness to obey God's command by sacrificing his son Ismail.
In late September, the government removed subsidies on fuel and other commodities while raising taxes on several consumer goods as part of a controversial package of economic reforms.
The move sent prices of hydrocarbons and consumer commodities skyrocketing, sparking immediate demonstrations nationwide.
The government, meanwhile, has increased the national minimum wage to 425 pounds (roughly $60.5) per week.
Sudan has suffered financially since the secession of South Sudan.
Khartoum lost one third of its land, population and resources, including major oil reserves, when the country was partitioned in 2011.
The move plunged Sudan into a serious economic crisis, as oil revenue used to account for the lion's share of the national budget.
- Butchers
"What is new this year is that the markets have seen price hikes for everything and people cannot even afford to pay for Dhabbah [Arabic for animal sacrifice]," said al-Badawi, the sheep trader.
This Eid season, he added, slaughterers' fees had risen from 50 to 100 Sudanese pounds (roughly $14).
At a time when many citizens complain of mounting inflation, slaughterers interviewed by the AA insisted that they would not come down on their fees -- despite the deteriorating economic conditions.
They argue that the fee increases are normal for the Eid season, insisting that their families, too, had been affected by the lifting of fuel subsidies.
Salih Ibrahim, a 57-year-old Khartoum resident, plans to slaughter his sheep himself.
"I used to book a slaughterer the same day I bought the sheep, but I'm no longer able to do that", he told the AA.
"I just thank God I was able to buy the animal at all."
By Ayman Elias Ibrahim
