Parfait co-founded Perfect Village Communities, a social enterprise that restores degraded land by planting trees and plants. After land is restored, it is used for regenerative agriculture and animal husbandry.
Perfect Village Communities was officially registered in 2020, after Parfait, who worked in healthcare, saw the impacts of malnutrition on his community first-hand In Burundi, 85% of the population is employed in the agricultural sector, but land degradation and climate-related shocks lead to limited agricultural output and soil erosion. Ultimately, Parfait decided to create an enterprise that plants trees and other restorative plant species, provides farmers with organic soil and market access, and offers veterinary services and training to pig and poultry producers.
The social enterprise planted 1,000,000 trees, which mitigated an estimated 132,142.86 tonnes of carbon in total. Additionally, Perfect Village Communities provided 5,000 small-holder farmers, primarily maize producers, with organic biofertilizer access and market access. Over the project course, these interventions are estimated to result in 4,980 additional tonnes of maize ready for market. Finally, 150 livestock producers have been supported to increase their poultry yields and animal husbandry abilities, generating an estimated 607,500 additional eggs to market.
Parfait attended the 2024 Summit in Montréal, where he spoke on the panel Addressing Climate Change Through Youth Entrepreneurship: A Conversation with Enterprising Futures Scholars and the Ambassador for Youth, Education and Work with Jurriaan Middelhoff, the Dutch Ambassador for Youth, Education, and Work, and fellow Scholars on the IKEA Open Home Stage. He was also invited to participate in an exclusive mentorship session with Former First Lady of Colombia, María Juliana Ruiz, on social entrepreneurship.
“Participation in the Summit is not the end of things, but the beginning of the opportunities exploration. We hope that we continue to mobilise funds and new partners so that we can continue to create social impact as we help people to develop themselves.”
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