Muddy Boots

“Coffee Regions in Transition: Sustainability and Inclusion”, hosted by HRNS Brazil in 2025 in Santo Antônio do Amparo, served as a turning point for the future of Brazil’s Campo das Vertentes coffee-growing region. More than a conference, it became a platform for collective action, bringing together smallholder farmers, rural youth, researchers, government institutions, and private sector partners to co-create solutions for the evolving challenges in the coffee sector.

The event prioritized participatory dialogue over passive lectures, centering on shared experiences and forward-thinking strategies. Topics such as climate resilience, economic sustainability, youth engagement, and rural innovation were explored through personal stories and collaborative workshops.

In the pursuit of sustainable rural development, Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung (HRNS) go beyond traditional metrics to ask: What does true impact look like? This article explores how HRNS applies Social Return on Investment (SROI) as a key tool to quantify the value of its work, translating improvements in productivity, income, and resilience into tangible financial terms. But HRNS also recognizes that not all transformation can be counted. Drawing on experiences from projects in Latin America, East Africa, and Southeast Asia, and recent academic engagement at the University of Hamburg, the piece highlights a nuanced Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) approach. Combining hard data with human stories, HRNS uses SROI not to impress but to learn, adapt, and ensure accountability to the communities it serves. The article advocates for a fit-for-purpose evaluation philosophy, where learning is ethical, context-driven, and ultimately centered on people, not just numbers.