Iraq forms part of what is known as the “Fertile Crescent” region, which is the land extending from the Mediterranean coast to the Gulf, and its people have been living on agriculture for thousands of years.
But the situation has changed, and conditions have changed, and everything is threatened with destruction for several factors and a group of reasons, including the construction of dams at the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the decline in rainfall and decades of conflicts.
Ahmed Abdel-Hussein said that the acute shortage of water in the Al-Mishkhab neighborhood in which they live has forced him to sell the flock members one by one, which results in a feeling of pain and bitterness, especially for the son.
The herd recently lost a two-month-old calf. “I feel sorry for his loss…because I really love them…now we only have nine,” said Mustafa, 13.
The number of herd members last year was 20.
Reuters spoke to six families of herders and herders in Najaf province, all of whom said that they had no third choice during the past months, either to sell their livestock or let them die before their eyes.
A local official said the number of water buffaloes in the neighboring Umm Khashm area had dropped from 15,000 five years ago to 9,000.
Khaled Shamal, a spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources, said that Najaf Governorate has reached only about 40 percent of its usual share of water this year.
In the marshes of southern Iraq, the situation is getting worse in an area that is already experiencing environmental fragility. The marshes are now exposed to the most severe heat wave in 40 years, and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that nearly 70% of the marshes have become barren land deprived of water.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Water Resources added that the quantities of water flowing into the Tigris and Euphrates rivers have become less by about 70% this year, compared to previous decades.
Officials and experts point to the construction of dams upstream in Turkey and Iran, climate change, outdated irrigation techniques, and the lack of long-term management plans as root causes of the water crisis that is driving thousands from the countryside.
In addition to the lack of water, a combination of factors and causes increases the suffering of farmers in attempts to feed their animals, including the sharp decline in crop production and the high prices of fodder.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations says that land used for agricultural activities across Iraq has decreased to about half the area that was under cultivation in 2020.
Pastoralists and breeders like Abdel Hussein cultivated their own land, or obtained cheap fodder from rice farmers.
The International Organization for Migration says 62,000 people have been displaced across Iraq by drought as of last year. Many have moved from the countryside to cities suffering from high rates of unemployment and poor services.
Alireza Qureshi, the local representative for the United Nations Food Programme, said Iraq needs to put in place plans and strategies to adapt. He added that Baghdad is now using oil revenues to avoid a hunger crisis, but that “these safety nets” will not be sufficient to compensate for the loss of livelihoods and sources of livelihood.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), about 7% of minors between the ages of five and 17 years who work fall under the description of working children or the category of child labor in Iraq.