Şırnak organic butter production reaches 10,000 lira per kilo

In the Gosine Plateau of the Beytüşşebap district in Şırnak, local families are sustaining their livelihoods through the production of organic butter. For five months of the year, herders live in tents at an altitude of 2,000 meters to graze goats and sheep.

Local women, known as berivanlar, use traditional methods to process goat and sheep milk into butter. This labor-intensive process often begins before sunrise, involving hours of manual churning using goat skins. Due to the organic nature and high labor requirements of the product, the butter sells for between 5,000 and 10,000 Turkish Lira per kilogram.

Producer Hüseyin Aydemir noted that recent rainy weather has led to higher yields this year. He stated, “We have been engaged in livestock farming for years. We come to this plateau and stay for five months. When the weather gets cold, we will descend to the village. Now, the most expensive butter sells for 5,000 lira per kilo. Everyone makes a living from this.”