Mediterranean Crossing

Photograph for TIME by Eric Bouvet / VII

GROWTH POTENTIAL: Tunisian farmworkers harvest peaches for export to European markets

Tunisian farmer Afif Elphil was in the south of the country scouting a new crop of watermelons one morning when a call arrived from the Port of Tunis. El Phil, the young chief of the Jinene Agro farming business, figured the customs agent was calling to report a problem with his latest load of peaches, bound for Marseilles in a refrigerated truck aboard a cargo ship. But the paperwork and produce were all in order. The problem, the customs officer explained, was that an electronic scanner had detected something moving inside — the farm's two night watchmen, stowed away among the...

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