Iraq's traditional qaimar dairy faces extinction amid severe drought

Qaimar, a creamy buffalo‑milk product traditionally served at Iraqi breakfast on kahi pastry, is made by the Abdallah family in Saddat Al‑Hindiyah, a village on the Euphrates in Babylonia province, about 60 km south of Baghdad. The family milks water buffalo twice daily, mixes the milk, and churns it by hand in wooden tools, avoiding iron to preserve flavor.

A prolonged drought has drastically lowered river levels, and 2025 was the driest year in Iraq since 1933. The water‑scarcity threatens the buffalo that supply the milk, endangering the continued production of qaimar and the livelihood of the remaining traditional producers.