USDA host roundtable to discuss affordable housing for farmworkers

NAMPA, Idaho — There are roughly 2.5 million farmworkers in america, and in 2019, in Idaho, the common month-to-month agricultural employee a month was about 52,000. Farmworkers are vital to the U.S. financial system. However regardless of being one of the important jobs for meals safety. They’re among the many lowest-paid staff, which results in many farmworkers struggling to seek out reasonably priced housing.

“How can we home are farm staff? How can we safely and reasonably priced home farm staff? That is a vital subject, ” mentioned Joaquin Altro, USDA Rural Housing Service Administrator.

On Monday afternoon, the Division of Agriculture Rural Housing service held a roundtable to interact native stakeholders and Washington representatives on housing for native farm staff.

“And we’re notably fascinated about options right here in Idaho as a result of we all know that Idaho is rising so shortly now we have such a necessity for reasonably priced housing, housing options, and workforce housing,” mentioned Margaret Salazar, HUD Regional Administrator within the Northwest.

Regardless of farmworkers’ lengthy days and hours, 1 out of three farm working households earn earnings under the federal poverty line. A mean particular person farmworker earns beneath $20,000 a 12 months.
With the price of dwelling in Idaho going up, farmworkers, like many Idahoans, are then compelled to put aside most of their paycheck for housing.

To assist – the USDA addressed the assets they’ll present to Idaho and are engaged on a partnership to serve native farmworkers higher.

“Its the primary time in a few years that now we have been in a position to obligate all of our greenbacks, so we’re right here now to talk to our companions and say now we have applications which are aggressively priced which are right here to assist construct farmworkers’ housing in Idaho,” mentioned Joaquin Altro.

Throughout the spherical desk, the USDA additionally introduced $1 million in grants to the neighborhood council of Idaho for his or her Rigby Neighborhood Clinic, which helps serve the rising migrant and seasonal agricultural staff within the area.