ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Heavy rainfall this year has rejuvenated wetland habitats and replenished ponds and marshes in the Kurdistan Region, leading to a renewed increase in buffalo herding in Raparin directorate in Sulaimani province following a year of drought.
"Last year, there was no water here. They barely had enough water for drinking," said Zirak Azad, a local buffalo herder located in Raparin administration. "Now they are in great shape because they have water and can graze well."
Ayoub Hama, another herder, noted that last year's water scarcity confined his animals to their pens for months. "I couldn't even take them out to graze," Hama said.
"This year, because water is so abundant, two or three of my friends who used to keep cows have switched over to raising buffaloes for the first time," he said, noting that the abundant water supply has even drawn in new farmers.
Fertile plains, marshes, and dense reed beds in the villages along the Kurdistan Region’s Dukan Dam serve as prime wetland habitats for the region's buffaloes, whose milk is used to produce a variety of Kurdish traditional products, most notably kaymak, a clotted cream consumed daily in the region and produced exclusively by buffalo milk, as well as yogurt.
According to the Raparin veterinary directorate, there are currently more than 500 buffaloes in the area.
The industry is highly concentrated in the villages of Kani Maran and Topawa, located in the Raparin administration west of Sulaimani, where more than 200 buffaloes serve as the primary livelihood for hundreds of families.
Herders acknowledge that while raising the animals is both labor and water-intensive, its profitability is significantly higher compared to that of cattle, sheep, or goats.
That profit is largely driven by a high regional demand for buffalo dairy products. Local vendors say the yogurt, in particular, is a household favorite.
"Buffalo yogurt is in very high demand because it has a sweet flavor and people frequently have it for breakfast," said yogurt vendor Sarbast Tariq. "It can last for several days - up to a week - without spoiling or turning sour."
On average, a small tub of buffalo yogurt currently sells for 7,000 Iraqi dinars ($3.50), while a large one sells for 14,000 (around $11).
Following a remarkably wet season, water levels in 23 out of the Kurdistan Region’s 25 dams, alongside 178 artificial ponds, have reached full capacity, according to the Region’s meteorological authority.
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