Morocco officially bans slaughter of female sheep and goats until March 2026

The Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water, and Forests have issued a joint circular to the governors of regions, heads of prefectures, provinces, and districts, the Director General of the National Office for Food Safety (ONSSA), and the regional and provincial directors of agriculture, announcing “a ban on the slaughter of female sheep and goats.”

“In order to better manage the development indicators of herd structure and improve the measures for the national herd’s regeneration, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water, and Forests, along with the Ministry of the Interior, has decided to ban the slaughter of female sheep and goats,” stated the two ministries.

They emphasized that this decision will take effect from the date of signing the circular (March 19, 2025) until the end of March 2026.

The circular further outlined that, “for this purpose, a joint action plan has been established to control the ban on slaughtering female sheep and goats at national slaughterhouses, except for those slaughtered for health or animal reasons (non-productive animals, those with more than 8 replacement teeth), and those imported for fattening or slaughter.”

The action plan includes the enforcement of the slaughter ban, the prevention of these females from entering slaughterhouses, and raising awareness among stakeholders in the red meat sector, especially butchers, about the ban on slaughtering female sheep and goats.

The circular stressed “the critical importance of implementing this measure in consultation with local authorities and relevant regional territorial communities, which are required to inform and educate butchers about the ban on slaughtering female sheep and goats.”

It also explained that the decision was made due to the succession drought years in the country, which have impacted, among other things, the productivity and national production of sheep and goat herds.

“This has led to a 38% decrease in the herd size compared to 2016. This situation, along with rising market prices and animal feed costs, has driven some breeders to reduce their herds by slaughtering productive female sheep and goats, which could threaten the sustainability of livestock farming in the future,” reads the circular.

Professional sources, as part of information previously gathered by Hespress from butchers in Rabat and the Ain Batach area near Benslimane, confirmed the continued slaughter of female livestock at licensed slaughterhouses.

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water, and Forests previously told Hespress that “the number of females giving birth has dropped from 11 million head in 2016 to 8.7 million head in 2024.”