Refugees in New Hampshire turn to farming for an income and a taste of home

Associated Press

DUNBARTON, N.H. (AP) — It’s harvest time in central New Hampshire. On one farm, most of the workers are refugees who have escaped harrowing wars and persecution. They come from the African nations of Burundi, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan and Congo, and they now run their own small businesses, selling their crops to local markets as well as to friends and connections in their ethnic communities. Farming provides them with both an income and a taste of home. Many were farmers in their home countries before coming to the U.S. The farm is owned by a New Hampshire nonprofit, the Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success.