An outbreak of violence in Senegal is having a rebound effect on the country’s sheep herders ahead of a Muslim festival that is a peak time for business.
The deadliest clashes in years erupted in the capital Dakar on June 1 after opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was sentenced to two years in prison, casting a shadow over his bid to run in the 2024 presidential election.
For sheep farmers, the crisis has come at the worst possible time.
For months, they have been preparing for Tabaski, a festival also called Aid el-Kebir or Aid el-Adha, when the Senegalese traditionally slaughter a sheep for a family feast. This year’s festival falls next Thursday.
Near Sewekhaye, a cattle town about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Dakar, Cheikh Ba watched his herd wandering through a sun-scorched valley dotted with small white sand dunes.
The 52-year-old is among many herders who stopped there, too afraid to enter the capital.
“Our original destination was Dakar, but we are afraid of losing our animals there due to the protests,” Ba said.
Sixteen people were killed in the three-day riots, according to the authorities, while Amnesty International puts the death toll at 23. The opposition is planning a new unauthorized 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 farmers’ association.
“We have advised farmers to take refuge in holding areas in the countryside and avoid cities.”
In Sewekhaye, seeking shade under acacia trees, thatched tents or tarpaulins, herders watched as their animals hungrily devoured food from feeders and drank water from plastic troughs.
Bushes around the town are littered with the carcasses of rotting sheep, many of which have died from stress or dehydration, said El Hadji Diallo Diop, a veterinarian.
Mohamed El Moctar, a Mauritanian herdsman in his 50s, said he had left Aioun, in southeastern Mauritania, on June 9.