Located in:
- Program-Specific Requirements for Wagner-Peyser Program (Employment Services)
All Program-Specific Requirements provided for the WIOA core programs in this section must be addressed for either a Unified or Combined State Plan.
e. 3. An assessment of the unique needs of farmworkers means summarizing Migrant and Seasonal Farm Worker (MSFW) characteristics (including if they are predominantly from certain countries, what language(s) they speak, the approximate number of MSFWs in the State during peak season and during low season, and whether they tend to be migrant, seasonal, or year-round farmworkers). This information must take into account data supplied by WIOA Section 167 National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP) grantees, other MSFW organizations, employer organizations, and State and/or Federal agency data sources such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Employment and Training Administration
Current Narrative:
Arkansas’ foreign MSFWs primarily are from Mexico. The other main country of origination for our foreign MSFWs is South Africa. The primary language spoken by MSFWs is Spanish with some MSFWs speaking Afrikaans, with English frequently being a primary or secondary language for South Africa.
A review of Arkansas’ Foreign Labor Certification program for the past three years finds that H- 2A posted 80% of their job openings during December – February of each year. The remaining 20% were posted throughout the remaining months of the year.
We estimate that there are approximately 4, 500 MSFWs in the State during peak season and approximately 1,500 during low season. This means that approximately 70% of these workers are migrant workers, approximately 20% are seasonal, and the remaining 10% are year-round farmworkers.
There may be additional MSFWs that may meet the guidelines of seasonal farm workers, based upon information from the Arkansas Human Development Corporation, the National Farmworkers Jobs Program (NFJP), Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) section 167 grantee. The partnership will continue in an ongoing effort to serve MSFWs.
Unique Needs of MSFWs
MSFWs are a unique and very important segment of Arkansas’ agricultural economy as they are willing to complete the necessary harvesting and manual labor job duties. However, MSFWs also face a number of challenges seldom faced by other workers. Based upon the experience of the State's NFJP grantee and other organizations serving MSFWs, the major challenges this population faces include the following:
- Education: the education level among MSFWs tends to be low
- Language: general lack of ability to speak and read English and, at times, Spanish
- Economic Status: the income level of MSFWs frequently falls well below the poverty level
- Limited access to public transportation in most rural areas of the state