BAGHDAD, Iraq — Farmers are reporting people giving up the profession and heading for the cities in response to widespread drought in Iraq.
"The water shortage has negatively impacted us," said Bashir Yousif, a farmer from Karbala province. "Drought has hit this general area. That's why mass migration has begun from the villages to the urban areas and the number of farmers has declined.”
Officials blame both natural causes and a dispute with Turkey over the water flow to neighboring countries for the water insecurity.
More than one million dunams of farmland have become barren in the provinces of Dhi Qar, Maysan, Karbala, Najaf and Basra, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
The levels of the Tigris River in Baghdad have also noticeably reduced. The Ministry of Water has stated the river’s water level has decreased by 47 percent since 2003.
"The decrease in water levels is from natural sources, primarily a lack of rainfall," said Aoun Diab, a ministry spokesman. But he also put responsibility on Turkey, stating they had not adhered to an agreement to release a standard amount of water at the Turkey-Syria border.
Before 2003, there were 500 cubic meters of water flowing into Iraqi land from Turkey. This has now been reduced to only 320 cubic meters.
"This is not acceptable in international norms or in humanitarian concerns," Diab said.
Reporting by Mustafa Goran
Translation and video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed
