Sunrise to sunset
Women entrepreneurs thrive along tourist route in Diwaniyah
DIWANIYAH — From sunrise to sunset in Ghammas, a district in Diwaniyah, women vendors set up shop along the bustling tourist route to Kufa, offering traditional dairy products such as cold yogurt, clarified butter, and Arab butter.
These stalls, nestled among fruit vendors selling citrus and other produce from nearby farms, provide a welcome relief for travelers. A vendor known as Umm Ahmed reported brisk sales, especially during the summer. “People come here to refresh themselves with buffalo yogurt, which costs 1,000 dinars per liter,” she said. “The demand is high, especially now with the soaring temperatures.”
The women, by selling directly to travelers, have carved out a niche for themselves, ensuring better control over their prices and interacting directly with their customers.
Umm Ahmed detailed her daily schedule: “I arrive at the tourist road at 8 in the morning and stay until 8 in the evening.” She also described the traditional methods used to prepare their products. “We prepare everything at night. We make the yogurt from buffalo milk, using a shaker for about half an hour to separate it, then we place it in cold water to separate the butter,” she explained.
Ibtisam Al-Zayadi, another vendor, shared her experience with 964media, a local news outlet. “We used to sell yogurt, cream, and clarified butter to grocery stores and were often exploited in pricing. So, we decided to sell our products directly on the tourist road near the Ghammas junction,” Al-Zayadi said.
She added, “I only sell yogurt, while others sell clarified butter, and there are vendors who sell cream in the early morning.”