Morocco livestock recovery program reaches 60% as farmers retain breeding animals

Morocco’s program to rebuild its national livestock herd is nearing a key milestone, with authorities reporting that monitoring efforts have reached nearly 60% completion as farmers largely comply with requirements to retain breeding animals.

The initiative, led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests, began field inspections on March 24 to verify that sheep and goat breeders are keeping female animals designated for reproduction.

Officials said data collected so far shows strong compliance among farmers, who have maintained breeding females that were previously identified and tagged during a nationwide livestock census conducted between June and August 2025.

Local inspection committees confirmed that most breeders retained the animals, which were marked with plastic identification tags.

The monitoring campaign has also enabled the disbursement of the second tranche of financial aid to more than 400,000 livestock farmers, delivered through bank transfers and money orders. Authorities expect to finalize remaining payments by the end of April.

Under the program, farmers receive subsidies of 400 dirhams ($40) per ewe and 300 dirhams ($30) per female goat to encourage herd rebuilding and discourage sales.

Officials said the financial support, combined with improved pasture conditions and better availability of feed, has helped incentivize farmers to keep breeding animals.

Farmers say the aid can amount to tens of thousands of dirhams for those with large herds, though they stress the need for continued support given the high cost of feed and veterinary care, especially outside rainy seasons.

The livestock recovery program, covering 2025–2026, has a total budget of 12.8 billion dirhams ($1.3 billion), with 5.4 billion dirhams already allocated in its first phase, benefiting about 1.1 million farmers, according to government data.