K & R Solar Dehydrators

K & R Solar Dehydrators is a Haitian-owned and operated business in Southern Haiti run by Kenzy Maignan & Renald Michel. They make high-quality solar dehydrators for use in communities for food preservation and commercial settings such as bakeries and other food processing facilities. The dehydrators are built in Haiti, and all materials (except one small component) are purchased from Haitian-run businesses in Haiti. K & R Solar Dehydrators provides the total package - start to finish - from building the dehydrators to delivery, setup, and operational training. These dehydrators are completely self-sustaining through solar power alone and are an important key to food preservation and food security as well as provide many opportunities for small business development.

For more information or to place an order for a dehydrator, you can click the email link below or contact Kenzy or Renald directly via WhatsApp.

Renald Michel, WhatsApp - +509 38 38 3325

Kenzy Maignan, WhatsApp - +509 40 04 4115

How they began

During one of our Hope for Health quarterly Leadership Conferences in 2018 there was unanimous agreement among the leaders of the villages we work with that the greatest need and most impactful change for their communities would be an affordable and sustainable method of food preservation. This launched Mary, our director, into several months of research on food preservation methods which brought a clear focus on solar drying. In searching for solar drying methods in use worldwide, Mary found Trees That Feed Foundation, an organization using solar dehydrators in Jamaica. Upon contacting them she learned that they were working in Haiti as well, mostly supplying trees that provide food, especially breadfruit, to interested communities and also discovered that the dehydrator was their own design, and they were very interested in sharing their design and having the dehydrators built in Haiti.

We were very excited about this opportunity that could potentially benefit both organizations and showed the design plans to a friend, Kenzy Maignan, a skilled Haitian metal worker & welder. He was confident he could build one, and in 2019 he finished the first dehydrator in time to introduce it at our September quarterly Leadership Conference. We had a wonderful day of “hands on” learning together as we worked through the process using breadfruit, from fresh breadfruit to breadfruit flour. The fruit was washed, peeled, shredded, put in the dryer and finally ground and bagged. Almost any fruit and vegetable can be dried after harvest to be preserved for later when food is scarce. Great excitement and hopefulness was in the air as we all realized we had found an answer to the identified need for a way to preserve food in the villages and how this could change their health and lives!

Kenzy went on to build 4 dehydrators in 2019/2020 and our in-country director, Renald Michel, helped with transportation and training. In December 2019 we asked Kenzy and Renald if they had any interest in starting their own business making the dehydrators. They were very excited about that, and when Mary was in Haiti in February 2020 they all sat down to go over details and develop a plan for Kenzy & Renald to start their own business, K & R Solar Dehydrators. Hope for Health would come alongside to work with them by providing encouragement, consultation, logistical support, connections, and no-interest loans which will be paid back with Solar Dehydrators to be gradually placed in the communities we work with as they are ready.

The solar dehydrator project is going very well in spite of all the unrest, violence, and a barrage of daily challenges thanks to the determination and resourcefulness of Kenzy & Renald, our amazing leaders. They are gradually building capacity for a strong business base by establishing supply chain connections, delivery partners, customer loyalty, and training & employing others as they apprentice teams to build quality solar dehydrators.

Three Solar Dehydrators were built and safely delivered in June & July 2022 to organizations in Jeremie, Jacmel and St. Marc, which is totally miraculous for the current conditions in Haiti. Two more dehydrators are in process but waiting for some materials. One of those will be placed in one of the villages we work with, and the other is going to an organization working with a community making & selling breadfruit flour. Orders are coming in, and they plan to begin building 5 more dehydrators in the next couple months.

Please pray for Kenzy & Renald and their teams, as each part of their business is a daily challenge. Bravo Kenzy & Renald! May the Lord watch over you and bless your efforts.