Ronel Simorney graduated from MFK’s farmer training program in January 2022 and quickly became part of the Champions program (MFK Farmers’ network).
Ronel is 42 years old and has been farming since he was 10 years old with his grandpa. He is from the third section communal of Ouanaminthe known as Savane Longue. Savane Longue has around 10,000 people, with agriculture being the main economic activity. Ronel lives with his wife and their 5 kids. Mr. Simorney did not have the chance to attend a school or go to University, but with farming he claims that he’s trying hard to educate his kids so they have a better future.
Agriculture is his main activity, but to care of his family and earn extra money, he has done other things, especially when there is no rain to farm. He’s been involved in making charcoal to sell, and he sometimes buys eggs from the Dominican Republic to resell in Haiti.
Ronel grows sugarcane, plantains, cassava roots, and pigeon beans on his farm. But as with all the farmers in Savane Longue, he considers peanuts as his main crop, and the crop which generates the most revenue.
Ronel explains to us that before the farmer training program led by the MFK Ag Team, he used to do farming as a just normal activity and did not consider farming as a business. “Now that I took an entire class on business management with MFK, I can now balance my expenses and my sales to generate revenue. MFK has opened a market for us and we can sell all of our peanuts to them without having to make several trips to the market to sell our peanuts,” Simorney says. He also praises his experience with using fungicides that he received from MFK to fight disease. "I was very fortunate to attend this training because the knowledge acquired is being used and I am starting to see some progress” he added.
Ronel Simorney enjoys being a farmer and counts on his wife’s support to manage his farm. MFK celebrates farmers such as Mr. Simorney because they are the backbone of the economy of the country. Please help us welcome Mr. Simorney as a new member of MFK’s farmer network!