AL-ATTASSIYA, Iraq: Iraqi farmer Sayyed Sattar knows he’ll soon have to let some of his buffalo go as he surveys the herd bathing in a dwindling pond close to the holy city of Najaf.
As southern Iraq suffers through a punishing drought, desperate cattle breeders are having to sell off animals to keep others alive.
Sattar, 52, has already seen some of his buffalo die of thirst.
Now, in a bid to stop any others being lost, he’s being forced to say goodbye to some of his prized beasts.
“With the money, we will be able to buy water and hay for the rest of the herd,” he says, his head covered with a traditional black and white keffiyeh scarf.
Sattar is far from the only farmer hit by the drought.
Local authorities estimate that some 30 percent of cattle across the south of the country have been lost during the drought, either dying from thirst or sold off for slaughter.
That is a major blow for the estimated 475,000 families who make their livings from livestock across the south of the conflict-hit country.
Herder Ali, 24, understands only too well the challenges being faced.
He has to travel ever greater distances with his flock to find water.
Around him, canals have run dry and the cracked earth, empty water pipes, and dead grass testify to how few options farmers now have.
To quench the thirst of their animals they have to pay, and the price of water has shot up, he says.
The lack of water is painful in an area that once formed part of the so-called “fertile crescent.”
Dubbed the “country of two rivers” due to the presence of the mighty Tigris and Euphrates, Iraq has seen its water supplies shrinking for years.
This year rainfall has been particularly scarce and reservoirs currently stand at only 10 percent full.
Beyond the natural causes there is also a human factor worsening the problem — the sharing of water resources on a regional level.
Neighbors Iran and Turkey have in effect rerouted several rivers and tributaries that used to help irrigate Iraq.
The recent launch of Turkey’s Ilisu dam on the Tigris has provided another blow for Iraqi agriculture and in June the authorities were forced to make a tough call.
The agriculture ministry suspended the growing of rice, corn and other cereals that consume a lot of water.
To help keep livestock watered, trucks are making the rounds in southern Iraq, offering to fill up the plastic tanks around cattle sheds for $20 (17 euros).
But as farmers see the costs soar, the price that their cattle fetch is collapsing.
Animals that once could have gone for up to $5,000 a head are now selling for as little as $1,500, meaning that cashing in on a buffalo can only cover the herd for two months.
To try to make ends meet many farmers have had to resort to taking out loans at banks and going into debt.
Unable to pay off their bills, a group of farmers recently took to the streets in southern Iraq asking for delays in their payments.
“Never in its history has Iraq known such a catastrophe,” said Ahmed Al-Issawi, head of the agricultural cooperative in Najaf.
“Our animals are forced to drink water where even mosquitos can’t survive.”
The drought has seen other problems increase — disease, worms and epidemics.
Animals “contaminate each other very quickly and die,” Al-Issawi says.
The Mesopotamian Marshes, one of the biggest wetlands in the region, have long been seen as one of the jewels of southern Iraq.
But now they no longer help guarantee an income for those who live there, meaning people have already started to move away — and more look set to follow.
“There will be an exodus,” Al-Issawi warned.
Iraqi farmers fight to save cattle from drought
Iraqi farmers fight to save cattle from drought
- Local authorities estimate that some 30 percent of cattle across the south of Iraq have been lost during the drough
- Canals have run dry and the cracked earth, empty water pipes, and dead grass testify to how few options farmers now have
Israeli FM urges Jews to move to Israel a week after Sydney attack
- “Today I call on Jews in England, Jews in France, Jews in Australia, Jews in Canada, Jews in Belgium: come to the Land of Israel! Come home!” Saar said
JERUSALEM: Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called on Sunday for Jews in Western countries to move to Israel to escape rising antisemitism, one week after 15 were shot dead at a Jewish event in Sydney.
“Jews have the right to live in safety everywhere. But we see and fully understand what is happening, and we have a certain historical experience. Today, Jews are being hunted across the world,” Saar said at a public candle lighting marking the last day of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
“Today I call on Jews in England, Jews in France, Jews in Australia, Jews in Canada, Jews in Belgium: come to the Land of Israel! Come home!” Saar said at the ceremony, held with leaders of Jewish communities and organizations worldwide.
Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Israeli leaders have repeatedly denounced a surge in antisemitism in Western countries and accused their governments of failing to curb it.
Australian authorities have said the December 14 attack on a Hanukkah event on Sydney’s Bondi Beach was inspired by the ideology of the Islamic State jihadist group.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Western governments to better protect their Jewish citizens.
“I demand that Western governments do what is necessary to fight antisemitism and provide the required safety and security for Jewish communities worldwide,” Netanyahu said in a video address.
In October, Saar accused British authorities of failing to take action to curb a “toxic wave of antisemitism” following an attack outside a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, in which two people were killed and four wounded.
According to Israel’s 1950 “Law of Return,” any Jewish person in the world is entitled to settle in Israel (a process known in Hebrew as aliyah, or “ascent“) and acquire Israeli citizenship. The law also applies to individuals who have at least one Jewish grandparent.zz
