Drought imperils Iraq's water buffalo and a child's way of life

Mustafa Ahmed, 13, keeps watch over his family's buffalo herd as they wade at a waterhole in the Al-Mishkhab district, on the outskirts of Najaf, Iraq, June 23, 2023. Ahmed's father, Ahmed Abdul Hussein, said he took his sons out of school years ago, to help him with the herd. "I regret this more than anything", he added. Ahmed said he wanted to go back to school after seeing his animals disappear one by one. As he does not know how to read or write, his father fears his future prospects are slim. "The fate of our lifestyle is unknown. We don't know what lies ahead," said Abdul Hussein. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani

NAJAF, IRAQ (Reuters) - Petting a water buffalo before tying a fodder bag around its neck, Mustafa Ahmed tends his father's herd in Iraq's southern province of Najaf where his family have raised animals for generations but lack of water now threatens their livelihood.

Iraq forms part of the "Fertile Crescent", land sweeping from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf which has been farmed for thousands of years. But the landscape has been devastated by upstream damming of Iraq's two main rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, lower rainfall trends and decades of conflict.