Water crisis threatens 200K+ dunams of Iraq’s Najaf farmland

Shafaq News – Najaf

Severe water shortages are threatening more than 230,000 dunams (about 56,800 acres) of farmland in Najaf, central Iraq, a crisis that could trigger an agricultural and environmental collapse, a local official said on Saturday.

Ahmed Suwadi, adviser to the head of the Najaf Provincial Council, told Shafaq News that the deterioration was years in the making, blaming successive governments for “failing to plan across critical sectors, including agriculture, industry, health, and electricity.”

Suwadi explained that Najaf is an agriculturally based province, with more than 60% of residents depending on farming. He said cultivated land falls into two main areas: a desert zone of 180,000–200,000 dunams (44,500–49,400 acres) that relies on groundwater, and an alluvial plain of about 230,000 dunams sustained by river water — now the area most affected by water scarcity.

The Provincial Council and farmers’ associations are racing to expand cultivation, relying on diesel pumps to draw water from rivers, Suwadi added, noting that nearly 40% of the alluvial plain has been planted, but the crops could fail without rainfall or if Turkiye does not release Iraq’s water share, exposing farmers to heavy financial losses.

Urging the central government to compensate affected farmers, he argued that workable mechanisms exist, while political leaders remain preoccupied with elections as the emergency worsens.

Iraq has faced an intensifying drought for years, driven by climate change, declining rainfall, and sharp drops in water inflows from upstream countries such as Turkiye and Iran.

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