Nasiriyah is the capital of the southern province of Dhi Qar where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers have witnessed a sharp decrease in their levels in recent years. Baghdad authorities have repeatedly accused Ankara of withholding water and pledged to resolve the matter, but so far to no avail.
Fazel Khidhir Hamdani, 80, says he has dedicated his life to raising livestock in the area and has never seen so much shortage of water resources.
The climate change crisis has forced Hamdani to sell most of his oxen. He urges the Iraqi government to take swift action to resolve the problem or farming may come to an end in their areas in the near future.
"Can you stand up if your legs are dead? No, you cannot. If your stomach is empty, you cannot make any move. These animals are done. They cannot make any move. They are hungry," Hamdani lamented.
"Due to this water shortage, there is no fodder for them. Those who have money and can afford it will buy fodder for their livestock," he added.
In the course of the past seven months, around 7,000 farmers have abandoned farming in Iraq, including 3,000 alone from Nasiriyah, and moved to the urban areas elsewhere in the country in search of an alternative livelihood to feed their families, according to data from Rudaw's Halkawt Aziz has received from Iraq's migration ministry officials.
"Our ministry has begun taking measures about the migration of farmers from the rural to urban areas due to water scarcity. According to our studies, marshlands, north of Basra, Maysan surroundings, Diwaniyah, and Hilla have borne the brunt of the water shortage," Ali Abbas Jahangir, spokesperson of the Iraqi migration ministry told Rudaw over the weekend.
The UN classifies Iraq as the fifth most vulnerable country in the world to the effects of climate change. Droughts are more frequent and longer. Water reserves have decreased by half since last year due to a combination of drought, lack of rainfall, and declining river levels, according to the water ministry.
