Editorial – At Full Gallop

The sheep continues to be a powerful revealer. Not only of purchasing power under pressure, but also of an economic system that still operates on life support from intermediaries.
Every year, the same scenario plays out: breeders complain about thin margins, consumers pay excessively high prices, and in between thrives an invisible army of resellers, brokers and speculators.
This year again, despite supply being announced as sufficient, prices seem disconnected from any rational logic, fueling social frustration.
In response, a recent decree issued by the Head of Government, following consultation with the Competition Council, introduced a set of measures aimed at regulating markets for the sale of animals intended for sacrifice and combating market manipulation and unjustified price increases. The package includes fines and prison sentences.Yet beyond these decisions, Morocco continues to operate through distribution channels inherited from another era. The Eid sheep is only a textbook example. Fruits, vegetables, meat, fish… everywhere, the same story repeats itself. Products leave farms at reasonable prices and reach citizens burdened by artificially inflated costs.
This system thrives because it exploits three weaknesses: the lack of market transparency, the fragmentation of producers, and the emotional dimension attached to certain forms of consumption.Certainly, field crackdowns and market inspections are necessary. But they do absolutely nothing to address the problem at its root.
Drive out habit, and it quickly comes back at full gallop. It is more than time to target the real structural failures in order to dismantle and rewrite the rules of the game (an attempt is currently underway in wholesale markets). And to stop allowing anyone to do anything without consequence. Otherwise, these distortions will never be accidents. They will simply become endless repetitions.