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Ricci Shryock for NPR
Mamadou Diop, 52, stands in front of the strawberry farms where he does seasonal work in Palos de la Frontera, Spain on October 16. Born in Senegal, Diop speaks more than five languages. He lives in makeshift housing near the farms, and he sends money back to his wife and children in Joal Fadiouth, Senegal.
If you’ve ever had strawberries, there is a chance they were grown in a province in southern Spain called Huelva.
Spain a prolific producer of strawberries, and the jurisdiction of Huelva is where 80% of the country’s berries are grown, in an industry that is increasingly demanding.
The work is year-round and requires field workers who take on the repetitive task planting seedlings and then harvesting when ready. This job usually falls on migrants, many from Africa.
They describe challenging conditions in the fields and with their bosses, who are often slow to give them work papers. When they are not working, they have to worry about ducking the police and danger in a nearby settlement where most of them live.
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