Iraq's Buffalo Crisis: Vanishing Herds Amid Rising Hardships

Iraq's buffalo population has drastically decreased due to severe droughts impacting the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, challenging the livelihoods of farmers and breeders. Additional factors such as climate change, upstream damming, outdated irrigation, and conflict have exacerbated the crisis, prompting many to leave rural areas.

Iraq is witnessing a steep decline in its buffalo population, halving over a decade due to severe droughts affecting the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This crisis threatens the livelihoods of many farmers and breeders who rely on these animals.

Sabah Ismail, a buffalo farmer from Dhi Qar, expressed his struggles, saying, 'The situation is difficult; I had 120 to 130 buffalo, now only 50 to 60 remain.' The combination of drought and declining resources has forced Ismail and others to sell or lose their herds.

Experts highlight the root causes as climate change, upstream damming by Turkey and Iran, and outdated irrigation methods. The situation is exacerbated by decades of conflict. Many farmers are abandoning rural life, leading to a remarkable drop from 150,000 to under 65,000 buffalos since 2015.

(With inputs from agencies.)