\n<\/p>\n
KARA, Nigeria (AP) \u2014 Muslim families across west Africa are grappling with the steep cost of rams for the traditional sacrifice that is central to the celebration of Eid al-Adha<\/a>, a struggle that mirrors the region’s deepening economic and humanitarian crises<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the Kara livestock market in southern Nigeria’s<\/a> Ogun state, ram sellers and buyers are in a bind. Prices have at least doubled compared with last year, slowing sales for what is usually a busy market packed in the lead-up to Eid.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ram that I bought for 200,000 naira ($127) last year, this year we started negotiating from 600,000 naira ($380),\u201d said Abiodun Akinyoye, who came to buy meat for the festival.<\/p>\n The U.N. World Food Programme said last month that over 36 million people are struggling<\/a> to meet basic food and nutrition needs in West Africa and Central Africa, a number expected to rise to 52 million during this year\u2019s lean season from June to August.<\/p>\n More than 10 million of the most vulnerable people across the region have been uprooted by conflict<\/a>, the WFP said, added to other major drivers like food inflation and climate conditions like extreme weather.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are at a tipping point and millions of lives are at stake,\u201d said Margot van der Velden<\/a>, WFP\u2019s regional director.<\/p>\n With a majority of Muslim populations in most of the worst-hit countries, families who previously bought rams to take part in the annual joyful festival are finding it difficult to sustain that lifestyle with some spending significantly more of their disposable income on trying to fulfill the religious rites.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone is suffering,\u201d Nigerian ram seller Jaji Kaligini said as he lamented the cost-of-living crisis<\/a> fueled by President Bola Tinubu\u2019s economic policies, such as a sudden removal of subsidies<\/a>. “We don\u2019t know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n In countries like Niger<\/a>, where growing insecurity<\/a> have worsened the living conditions, the military government banned ram exports this year to stabilize local supply. While that has helped availability, it has affected tightened supplies in neighboring Nigeria and Benin.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s enough livestock (in Niger),\u201d said Hasoumi Daouda, who was at a local market to buy ram. \u201cBut it\u2019s the financial crisis that makes them too expensive to buy.\u201d<\/p>\n The challenge of hardship is also raising the question of how obligatory the ram sacrifice is for Muslims. The tradition is not mandatory for those who \u201cgenuinely cannot afford it,\u201d Bukola Hameed, a Nigerian Islamic scholar, said.<\/p>\n However, those who can afford it also have \u201ca duty to share their meat with poorer neighbors,\u201d another Islamic scholar, Mikail Adekunle, added.<\/p>\n \u2014–<\/p>\n Adebayo reported from Abuja, Nigeria<\/p>\n<\/div>\n