Senegal unrest stokes instability for sheep farmers

An outbreak of violence in Senegal is having a ricochet effect on the country’s sheep herders ahead of a Muslim festival which is a peak time for business.

The deadliest clashes in years broke out in the capital Dakar on June 1 after opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was sentenced to two years’ jail, casting a pall over his bid to contest the 2024 presidential elections.

For sheep farmers, the crisis has happened at the worst possible moment.

For months, they have been gearing up for Tabaski, a festival also called Aid el-Kebir or Aid el-Adha, when Senegalese traditionally sacrifice a sheep for a family feast. This year’s festival falls next Thursday.

Near Sewekhaye, a livestock town around 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Dakar, Cheikh Ba looked at his flock roaming in a sun-scorched valley dotted with little white-sand dunes.

The 52-year-old is among many herders who had halted there, too fearful of entering the capital.

“Our original destination was Dakar, but we’re afraid of losing our animals there because of the protests,” said Ba.

Sixteen people died in the three-day unrest, according to the authorities, while Amnesty International puts the toll at 23. The opposition is planning a new unauthorised demonstration in Dakar on Sunday.

“Sheep traders were attacked in Keur Massar,” a suburb of Dakar, said Ismaila Sow, an official with the national sheep breeders’ association.

“We have advised farmers to hole up in waiting areas in the countryside and avoid the cities.”

In Sewekhaye, seeking shade under acacia trees, straw tents or tarpaulins, herders watched as their animals greedily devoured food from feeders and took water from plastic troughs.

The bush around the town is dotted with the bodies of rotting sheep, many of which have died from stress or dehydration, said El Hadji Diallo Diop, a vet.

Mohamed El Moctar, a Mauritanian herder in his 50s, said he had set off from Aioun, in southeastern Mauritania, on June 9.