Author: Manon Koningstein

This month marked an important milestone for the coffee sector and for Beyco. Busongora Coffee in Uganda and Val & Tin Coffee Gardens in Switzerland have signed a purchase contract on our platform. At first glance, it may appear to be just another trade agreement, but in reality, it is so much more!

The contract demonstrates how farmer organizations and buyers can already meet the requirements of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Thanks to the Beyco farmer platform, the agreement includes geo-data traceability down to the level of individual plots and households, ensuring that the coffee can be traced back to its exact origin. At the same time, financial and value chain data were exported directly from the platform, giving all actors insight into the numbers behind the trade. Even the financing conditions were made visible, clearly showing who funded the contract and under what terms.

By bringing all of this together in a single document, Busongora and Val & Tin have gone beyond compliance. They have shown that traceability and transparency do not have to be obstacles, but can instead be tools to strengthen trust and inclusion across the value chain. This achievement is not only a step toward EUDR readiness, but also a glimpse into the kind of fairer, more sustainable coffee trade that digital platforms like Beyco make possible. 

Brian Masereka, Beyco Implementation Officer Uganda:  “Beyco means Beyond coffee in the context of the coffee industry, By signing this contract on beyco and visibly showing the various aspects of the value chain, the buyer is giving the consumers more than just coffee, he is allowing them the opportunity to interact with origin stories and see various aspects of the value chain. I suppose that if you know the true story of your coffee, it can never taste the same because you see it just beyond the coffee in the cup.”

Visualizing coffee contracts on Beyco

Behind every signed contract on the Beyco Platform lies a story. The recent purchase agreement between Busongora Coffee in Uganda and Val & Tin Coffee Gardens in Switzerland is no exception, and this time, the story is made visible in a new way.

On Beyco, the contract is more than a set of signatures. It captures the trust built between farmers and buyers, while also making the often-invisible parts of a trade relationship clear for everyone to see. For example, the financing behind the contract is displayed transparently, showing how access to trade finance made the deal possible. Financial and value chain data, exported from the farmer platform, add another layer of openness that builds confidence among all parties. And thanks to geo-data collected at the plot and household level, the origin of the coffee can be traced with unprecedented precision.

What makes this so significant is not only the technology itself, but the signal it sends: contracts on Beyco can become living documents that tell the full story of a trade, from the household level in Uganda to a roasting company in Switzerland. This visualization of trust, data, and traceability sets a benchmark for the sector, showing how digital platforms can reshape the way coffee is traded and valued. 

Ayub Asingataba, Program Manager – East Africa: “Beyco is not just a platform; it is a bridge that connects farmers to the global market. Through robust data management, full traceability, and EUDR compliance, it gives cooperatives the credibility buyers demand while securing fairer opportunities for farmers. With Beyco, origin stories gain visibility, trust is strengthened, and farmers’ coffee earns its rightful place on the world stage.”

We are delighted to welcome An Ha, who started on August 18th as our new Managing Director. To get to know her better, she shares a bit about the path that brought her to Progreso, her vision for working with farmer cooperatives, and what excites her most about stepping into this role.

When An looks back at the path that led her to Progreso, she describes it as a journey that has always circled back to the same place: close to the farmer. After studying development economics, her career began at Rabo Foundation, continued at Rabobank and later took her to Solidaridad. While these roles gave her valuable insights into development finance and sustainability, she felt a strong pull to work more directly with farmers and their cooperatives.

Through Iris van der Velden, a member of Progreso’s Supervisory Board, An was introduced to the role of Managing Director. The moment she learned about the position, it felt like a natural fit. Stepping into this role, she explains, felt like a welcome home, being closer to farmer cooperatives than ever before, and at the very heart of the challenges and opportunities they face.

For An, supporting farmer cooperatives is both a professional challenge and a source of deep fulfillment. Cooperatives are complex organizations; their success depends on many intertwined factors. Yet it is precisely this complexity that motivates her. The opportunity to contribute to their growth and resilience in a way that has a direct impact on farmers’ lives is what excites her most about Progreso.

She brings with her a unique mix of experiences: a background in banking and technical assistance, with financing gradually becoming an important part of her professional toolkit. She sees her role as one of bridging Progreso’s technical assistance programs with the Progreso Fund, helping cooperatives move more smoothly along the path toward independence. Finance, she admits, is a challenging part of the equation, but it is also where she sees great potential.

Making finance accessible and understandable is something An values deeply. She knows how transformative it can be for a cooperative to truly grasp its own financial health and to build the capacity to grow stronger on that foundation. This, she says, is one of Progreso’s distinctive strengths: the emphasis on both the quality of cooperatives’ financial management and the people behind it. It is something she wants to highlight more in the future.

Outside of her professional journey, An recently started her own garden. Only now, with her hands in the soil, has she come to fully appreciate the time, patience, and dedication farming requires. It has given her a renewed respect for the farmers at the center of Progreso’s mission and makes her even more committed to supporting their cooperatives as the new Managing Director.

Of course, we couldn’t let this moment pass without sitting down with Natan YAO himself—after all, he’s not new to Progreso, but he is stepping into a new and exciting role.

With nearly 15 years of experience in the cocoa sector, Natan’s journey began as an agronomist with a local firm, where he was in charge of some of the first UTZ and Rainforest Alliance certification assessments. His growing interest in cooperative development led him to join the HRNS Foundation (Hanns Neumann Stiftung, Germany), where he worked as a capacity-building manager for cocoa producer organizations. There, he focused on identifying training needs, designing tailored modules, and delivering capacity-building programs for cooperatives.

In 2018, Natan’s path first crossed with Progreso, when he began supporting us in several activities while still with HRNS. Between 2018 and 2021, he served as Progreso’s main point of contact in Côte d’Ivoire. His official journey with Progreso began in 2021, when he was recruited as Project Manager and Country Representative. In this role, he oversaw significant growth: the number of cooperatives under permanent supervision tripled from 2 to 6, and 3 additional cooperatives gained access to marketing funds.

In 2025, following the spin-off of Pool Africa, Natan took on his new role as Program Manager for West Africa. His ambition is clear: to grow Progreso’s presence in the African sub-region and increase the number of partner cooperatives.

“Working for Progreso allows me to thrive in a sector I’m passionate about,” Natan shared during our conversation. “What motivates me most is the chance to work closely with farmers from diverse backgrounds and to contribute meaningfully to improving their conditions, with the freedom and trust to act.”

With his experience, dedication, and vision, Natan is well-positioned to lead Progreso’s efforts in West Africa—both in strengthening our work in Côte d’Ivoire and expanding our impact across the region.

We are pleased to welcome Ayub as Progreso’s new Program Manager for East Africa. Ayub is a development professional with over 10 years of experience in agriculture, cooperative development, and access to finance. With a background in accounting and a strong commitment to improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, he has focused his career on designing and managing programs that strengthen rural enterprises, promote inclusive market systems, and support sustainable development, especially in the coffee and cocoa sectors.

Throughout his career, Ayub has led donor-funded initiatives, built strategic partnerships, and supported cooperatives to become more resilient, market-ready, and financially sustainable. He is driven by collaboration, innovation, and hands-on engagement with communities to achieve lasting impact.

What attracted Ayub to Progreso is its clear commitment to sustainable and inclusive agricultural development, practical support to cooperatives, and innovative use of digital tools like Beyco. Having worked with Progreso on regional programs in the past, he was inspired by the organization’s farmer-centered approach and grassroots partnerships. Joining the team is a natural next step in advancing his passion for transforming rural livelihoods.

In his new role, Ayub looks forward to working alongside an inspiring team to build resilient, inclusive value chains across East Africa. He is eager to engage with producer organizations on the ground, understand their challenges, and co-create solutions that strengthen governance, increase access to markets and finance, and enhance climate adaptation capacities. He aims to bring strategic leadership, regional insight, and a collaborative spirit to support the growth of Progreso’s programs and help scale digital tools like Beyco to increase transparency and traceability.

Outside of work, Ayub enjoys travel, spending time in nature, and listening to community stories, especially from farmers, whose resilience continues to inspire him. He is also a smallholder dairy farmer, passionate about photography, volleyball, and cycling. Committed to lifelong learning, Ayub is particularly interested in dairy farm productivity, regenerative agriculture, and climate adaptation strategies.

Please join us in warmly welcoming Ayub to Progreso and wishing him every success in his new role!

With great sadness, Progreso says goodbye to Angel Mario: a warm personality, a natural connector, and a dear colleague and friend.

Angel Mario was involved from the early days of Stichting Green Development, the predecessor of Stichting Progreso, where he grew into an indispensable force within the network. As our Supervisory Board member Huub Keulen recalls: “He was happy with his job, happy with the team and happy with Amsterdam, where he had found his place. His positivity and thoughtfulness left a lasting impression on everyone.”

Supervisory Board member Minke van Rees remembers how they grew together in their work: “We grew together in our work. Both of us eventually even in a director’s position. This wasn’t even a specific goal or ambition for either of us, as long as we could have impact.” And impact, he certainly had. Huub adds: “Angel Mario gave a lot, but also got a lot done in return, and in doing so he left an essential mark on the work and impact of Progreso.”

As a natural relationship builder, Angel Mario effortlessly connected with others. Minke recalls how he navigated with ease “between African cooperatives, traders, financiers or government institutions.” His dedication, his warm approach, and his ability to build bridges will always be remembered.

On a personal level too, many of us felt deeply connected to him. As Minke shares: “I am so grateful that he got to experience fatherhood. And that his children got to experience him as a father, only for far, far too short a time.”

With Angel Mario, we lose more than a colleague. As Huub puts it: “As if a part of ourselves has disappeared.”

We cherish the memories and wish his family, friends, and loved ones much strength.
Angel Mario, you will always be in our hearts.