This operation falls within the framework of the general census of the national livestock herd for the year 2024, launched by the Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests, and the National Association of Sheep and Goat Breeders, under the slogan "Our livestock is our country's wealth," with the aim of strengthening the agricultural sector, achieving food security, and improving productivity and the sustainability of animal resources.
This census aims to collect accurate data on the number of heads of the national herd, analyze its characteristics, determine its geographical distribution, and provide a database for birth and growth rates associated with it, in order to support the agricultural strategy by improving policies related to livestock, as well as working to protect local breeds and study their development.
The person in charge of statistics at the Regional Directorate of Agriculture for the Oriental region, Hassan Rajmil, confirmed in a statement to the Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP) that the census operation is proceeding in good conditions, noting that 82 researchers have been mobilized and distributed across the various provinces of the region, including 10 researchers in the Oujda-Angad prefecture, in order to ensure the success of this operation.
He highlighted that the livestock herd in the Oriental region includes, according to the last census, about 3.5 million heads of sheep and goats, including 350,000 heads in the Oujda-Angad prefecture, noting that the number of livestock breeders in the region is estimated at about 60,000 breeders, including 5,500 breeders in the Oujda-Angad prefecture.
He pointed out that this operation will enable future programs and projects to refine the process of targeting the herd in order to promote the small ruminant sector and meet the needs of livestock breeders.
For his part, the researcher in the census operation in the Moustafarki commune (Oujda-Angad prefecture), Karkar Bouchaib, explained that this operation will enable the provision of updated data on the livestock herd and determine the extent of its damage from successive years of drought, and thus help in the necessary measures to support breeders and preserve the national herd.
For his part, the sheep breeder in the Douar El Kharrarka in the Moustafarki commune, Mohamed Aissawi, expressed his hope that this initiative would contribute to enabling the supervisory authorities to formulate and prepare development projects that contribute to mitigating the effects of the drought that has lasted for about seven years, and to support the efforts of breeders to develop the sector and preserve the herd.
The efforts of all stakeholders are combined to ensure the success of this operation under the supervision of provincial and regional observers, in coordination with local authorities, to collect data on the number of sheep and goat heads, their breeds, varieties, gender, age group, as well as their geographical distribution, through forms designated for that purpose.
