'Here it is, the truffle, a blessing from God!' says Zahra Buheir.
She carefully digs out a desert truffle from the sandy earth and shows it off between her calloused fingers reut.rs/3bRwaKn 1/5
She carefully digs out a desert truffle from the sandy earth and shows it off between her calloused fingers reut.rs/3bRwaKn 1/5
Braving the harsh weather of Iraq's southern desert, as well as left-behind land mines, Buheir and her family of seven have spent weeks hunting for the seasonal truffles that have provided them with an income for generations 2/5
Fetching its hunters no more than about $7 a kilo this year, Iraq's desert truffle is cheaper than its rarer European cousins that can cost hundreds of dollars or more a kilo 3/5
But with Iraq's economy in crisis, the local variety is a big help to Buheir and her family. This year the rain came late and Buheir could only find about a kilo of truffles a day, one-tenth of what she would dig up in a good year 4/5
Every few days, Hussein Abu Ali drives into the desert from the city of Samawa to take the truffles to market. This year, scarcity has pushed up prices. Read more reut.rs/2QaP6va by 📷 Alaa Al-Marjani and ✍️Ahmed Saeed 5/5
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