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“Africa is the fastest-growing continent. Africa is getting educated now. Africa is where you need to be. Africa is where you (should) look to grow your food.”
That’s what Dr. Ruth Oniang’o, a keynote speaker at the 2021 Alltech ONE Ideas Conference (ONE), used to tell her fellow board members when she served on the board of Nestlé. A professor of nutrition and former member of Parliament in Kenya, Dr. Oniang’o has spent her career advocating for food and nutrition policies that will feed the world’s fastest-growing continent and increase access to food across Africa.
Over the past several decades, many African countries have made great strides in reducing chronic hunger, malnutrition and weight loss — but with one in five African people still “chronically undernourished,” including millions of children, there is much more work left to be done to help turn African communities into examples of food security.
Dr. Oniang’o’s approach is a holistic one. Beyond her focus on growing healthier crops and strengthening food assistance, her work is transforming society through avenues that most people may not think of when it comes to food and nutrition.
The first step to transforming how Africa grows and eats is identifying who’s behind the continent’s current food production.
“In Africa, it’s mostly women who are producing food,” said Dr. Oniang’o during her keynote address at ONE. “And I said, ‘No wonder we are a hungry continent. Women are already overworked. They bring up children, many children. They have to farm. They have to feed them.’”
We cannot solve hunger in Africa without women, Dr. Oniang’o argued. By elevating their value in society and providing them with the education and resources they need to manage their farms, their families and their health, we can create conditions that will allow African women to grow more food, feed a greater number of people and share their knowledge with others.
One major key to that empowerment is literacy. According to data from the United Nations, the adult literacy rate in sub-Saharan Africa is around 63% — meaning that one in three adults in the region, or some 182 million people, cannot read. And while some African countries have higher literacy rates, many are actually lower: South Sudan’s 35% literacy rate is among the lowest in the world.
Promoting adult literacy, both via governments and NGOs, leads to more educated adults across Africa, which has positive, long-term effects related to food, nutrition and families.
“Adult literacy is so important,” said Dr. Oniang’o, “because when women are educated, they will not want too many children. They'll want to do other things. They'll take good care of themselves, take care of their family, and therefore, their children will survive better. They want a better life for themselves, and they know what foods to provide to the family.”
No matter where they are in the world, farmers need resources of all kinds, from education and research to funds to help purchase seeds, nutrients and supplies. Providing resources directly to farmers is one of the fastest ways to improve their conditions and crop yields, as well as the health and nutrition of their families and communities. And providing resources to farmers doesn’t just help build individual and community food security — it can help alleviate poverty, too, since extreme poverty and hunger have “a cyclical relationship” in Africa, according to the United Nations. Hungry people have a hard time working, and people who can’t work have a hard time affording food.
“If we do agriculture properly — if we distribute our resources properly — we can get people out of poverty,” said Dr. Oniang’o. “As someone who has worked with farmers right on the ground, it doesn't take a whole lot. It doesn't take a whole lot to transform a community and to make them have more food and to have them eat better.”
We can’t increase the production of food sources without addressing soil health. Unhealthy, malnourished soil leads to malnourished crops that wither instead of thriving. Finding ways to improve soil health — like rotating in legumes to boost the nitrogen in the soil and supplementing malnourished soils with nutrients — helps foster healthier crops and establishes farming practices that will be more sustainable over time.
Dr. Oniang’o first realized the importance of soil health when she saw crops that looked weak and frail, mirroring the effects of malnutrition in adults and children in Africa. She advocates for ways to help farmers improve their soil health, starting with technologies like rapid soil tests to help farmers identify deficiencies within their soils — a prerequisite to growing stronger, healthier crops. After all, as she said, “If the soils are not healthy, human beings cannot be healthy.”
“Nobody can do this alone,” said Dr. Oniang’o. “(The) private sector has a role to play. Public-sector government has a role to play. Civil society has a role to play. Everyone has a role to play.”
Implementing change on a continental scale cannot be done alone. It takes local groups and national governments to put all of the practices outlined above into place in support of individuals, communities and countries. National and local governments, NGOs, scientists, farmers and private-sector companies all have a role to play. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) notes that “increasing yields for staple crops (in Sub-Saharan Africa) will require greater investment, both domestically and through assistance from donors and international research organizations.”
Local groups across Africa know what local farmers need. By listening to these stakeholders, private companies, national governments and international collaborative efforts can find ways to be good partners, bringing about change on a scale that local groups can’t accomplish alone. These partnerships can help decrease food insecurity across Africa and transform the future of the continent for the long term.
Imagine it: a farmer in Kenya learns to read. She’s able to take advantage of educational materials and research that help her grow her crops more efficiently, with higher yields and healthier soils for her specific growing conditions. She’s given the resources she needs to put these findings into practice, thanks to partnerships between her local government and private companies. She’s able to feed her family and even has a surplus to help feed others, contribute to a food bank or sell for a profit. She’s valued and respected as an expert; she shares her knowledge with other farmers nearby, and she helps build communities that are more food-secure — and the ripple effects continue to spread.
By investing in her, we invest in the future of Africa. That’s how we transform the future of food: one farmer at a time.
When it comes to our priorities in life, our day-to-day concerns can often take precedence over our long-term goals. We are constantly focused on what is happening right now, in our careers, families, social lives and more. Very rarely do we take the time, or even get the opportunity, to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. However, when we do get to take this broader view, it is only then that we begin to observe the issues that not only affect ourselves but the world and the people around us. And not only can we identify these challenges, but we can also engage with them and develop the opportunities and solutions that will help us all for generations to come.
This was one of the main themes of “Economics and Health: A Natural Connection,” an in-depth keynote discussion between Alltech president and CEO Dr. Mark Lyons and Irish economist, author and university lecturer David McWilliams during the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference. Over the course of their conversation, the two speakers discussed a range of different countries that significantly influence global agriculture and assessed how their current and potential agricultural practices could affect the world as we know it.
“How do we become what will be described as ‘good ancestors,’” asked McWilliams, “so people in the future can look back at us and say, ‘They left the place in good nick’?”
This conversation came on the heels of a new animation project between Alltech and McWilliams. In a series of short videos, the two teamed up to focus on different nations’ economies in a quest to understand them better and learn how our histories and ideas are interrelated.
“We thought it would be a good way to look at what's the big global challenge,” McWilliams explained. “What are the historic, what are the momentous events going on? And then (we can) say, ‘Okay, how do these percolate down into countries big and small, major producers but also small, nimble producers?”
The outcome of this journey into world economics has been the revelation that everything is connected and that we all have a part to play in the betterment of our planet.
“What the (COVID-19) pandemic has told us is that none of us are alone, none of us can isolate ourselves, and the world is kind of smaller than we thought — and more interrelated,” McWilliams continued.
The first of these country-focused animations looked at the United States. In the video, McWilliams pointed out that:
Taking all of this information into account, McWilliams insisted that the U.S. itself will be the source of change in our environmental future.
“I think American culture is changing, at least when you see it from the outside,” explained McWilliams when asked his thoughts on the current Biden administration and what it means for the future of the U.S. “He's saying, ‘There's no point being wealthy if the wealth is only (in the hands of) a small minority. The wealth has to trickle down to everybody else. And if it doesn't trickle down, we're going to force it up.’”
What President Biden understands, according to McWilliams, is that the environment and inequality are the important issues and that they need to be addressed in order for the world to move forward, even if that goes against previously held beliefs.
“We are now at this phenomenal, intergenerational tipping point that the older generation isn't quite getting and the younger generation hasn't quite articulated,” said McWilliams. “But what it is is a change of macroeconomic policy, and what is driving the entire thing is this idea that we cannot simply be a gratification mindset, all of us together.
“We cannot have an immediate gratification mindset, which is ‘me, mine, my balance sheet, my profit margin, etc.,’” he continued. “We have to have a legacy mindset that we are, as I said at the top of the animation, we're just custodians. We're only passing through, right?”
McWilliams also highlighted the Biden administration’s understanding that the farming community is key to addressing these issues, especially regarding the country’s environmental impact. He said that the president realizes that agriculture is the solution to meeting carbon-neutral targets in the future. With this in mind, McWilliams believes U.S. agriculture is about to go through an enormous change, reinstating confidence and self-belief in the industry that has been missing for a long time.
“Before the industrial age, before the electricity age, before the internet age, there was agriculture,” McWilliams stated. “And agriculture will be the industry of the future, because only agriculture can naturally bring us to carbon neutrality. So, I think it's a really exciting time.”
When it comes to feeding the world, Brazil is at the forefront. The South American country is:
But, according to the animation created by Alltech and McWilliams, Brazil has often failed to spread the good news stories of its agri-food industry. While its soybean farmers may feed billions, we only ever hear nightmarish stories of them forcing cattle ranchers off their land and allowing the rainforest to be destroyed. The video suggests that maybe now is the time for Brazil to reassess its legacy and to show how, rather being than part of the problem, its agricultural industry is actually integral to the global solution.
McWilliams is convinced that as long as Brazil can improve the messaging, it could be at the forefront of agricultural and environmental change.
“It seemed to me that if Brazil gets its agriculture right, the world gets its agriculture right,” explained McWilliams. “And what happens in Brazil will happen elsewhere around the developing world.”
However, he believes that the country first has to get its story right. He suggested that Brazil has to focus on aggressively positive messaging, revealing to people how much of what they eat comes from Brazil and how efficiently it is produced.
“And that, I think, is its challenge over the next 10 or 15 years, because it's clear that Brazil is going to go from strength to strength in terms of basic production,” concluded McWilliams. “The question is: Can it go from strength to strength in terms of people's perceptions of whether Brazil is a good environmental citizen?”
According to the next installment in this animation series, the next 30 years will be the most important in the history of agriculture. This will be mainly due to the changing economic and agricultural landscape of China and Asia as a whole.
The short video states that in order for China to succeed in becoming the world’s largest economy and military power, it must secure a sufficient food supply for its people and ensure that they are not subjected to inflated food prices. However, this is complicated by the fact that China has limited natural resources, particularly water. The outcome has been a transformation and modernization of Chinese agriculture, an industry that utilizes cutting-edge agriculture technology like no other country. This development has allowed China to stake its claim as the world’s most sustainable food producer.
Another huge trend in China and Asia as a whole, McWilliams pointed out, is that with newfound wealth comes a change in diet. This can be seen with upper-middle-class Asians, who are dining on a more Western diet of beef and dairy instead of traditional tofu and rice. This shift in taste is another indicator of how the continent will influence food and agriculture production and the supply chain as we move forward.
“The future is one whereby China will try and do whatever it can to make sure that its agricultural production remains high and/or that it can buy in food,” McWilliams explained.
When considering a list of some of the biggest agri-food producers and consumers on the planet, you could be forgiven for thinking that the addition of this small island on the edge of the Atlantic was a clerical error. But Ireland is a significant player when it comes to the global agriculture industry. According to the animation focusing on the island, Ireland’s geographic location and climate make it the perfect place for healthy grass growth. And with healthy grass growth comes healthy cows. This amounts to a total of $13 billion in annual food exports.
However, there are large stumbling blocks scattered along Ireland’s path to energy-efficient and sustainable food production. One is the commonly encountered misconception that the solution to reducing carbon emissions is to reduce food production — something that McWilliams said the European Union is pushing but that he believes is a mistake.
“In order for the European Union to get an aggregate reduction in carbon emissions,” McWilliams evaluated, “it would seem to me much more logical to favor those countries that have had an evolutionary or ecological or environmental gift, in order to actually produce more, not less, in places like this, because your input/output ratio is so much lower here (in Ireland) than it is either in the parched Mediterranean or in the frozen tundra of the North.”
McWilliams believes that in order for Irish agriculture to modernize and grow, it needs to take a leaf out of the book of one of Ireland’s leading sectors: technology, which generates over $25 billion in exports. He said in the animation that embracing innovation could cultivate new agricultural breakthroughs, making Ireland the most resource-efficient, carbon-neutral, sustainable food producer on Earth — something which, in turn, could produce a new export: incredibly valuable ag-tech.
In concluding the discussion, McWilliams reiterated that everything in economics is interrelated and that positive change now will lead to further growth in the future, allowing us to leave a positive legacy for generations to come.
Embracing long-term legacy thinking will lead to healthier people, healthier societies and a healthier planet.
When he was 26 years old, Dewitt Jones walked into the headquarters of the famed National Geographic magazine as its newest photographer in what, amazingly, was his first professional photography job.
“I remember standing there in the lobby … surrounded by the most beautiful photographs I'd ever seen in my life,” recalled Jones in his keynote address at the 2021 Alltech ONE Ideas Conference. “How was I ever going to prove myself, (prove) that I was worthy of working there?”
Despite his fears, Jones did more than prove himself; his eye for detail and stunning images have made him one of the premier photojournalists in the world. He worked as a freelance photographer for National Geographic for 20 years, and his photography has also been featured in global advertising campaigns for such powerhouse clients as Canon and United Airlines.
And his talents don’t stop at still photography: As a filmmaker, Jones had garnered two nominations for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards before he turned 30 years old.
So, how did Jones overcome his fears and establish such an incredible portfolio of work? As he explained in his presentation, he believes that the key to success is following four steps that reveal the extraordinary in the ordinary and provide a fresh perspective on life:
“When I applied these four techniques, I made some incredible images,” Jones said. “I locked in those images by always beginning by celebrating what was best … and letting the rest fall away.”
“Vision without technique is blind,” Jones said. “It's fine to have a brilliant idea, but if you don't have the technique … to manifest it, you have nothing.”
As a photographer, for Jones, honing his technique meant taking thousands of photos in the quest to get the handful of images that would resonate most with readers.
“When I worked for (National) Geographic, the average article was shot in 400 rolls of film. That's over 14,000 images to get the 30 that go on an article,” Jones explained. “(But) I don't care how many shots it takes. We all know when those right answers come into focus … but you're not going to get (them) unless you're willing to press out on the edge of your own comfortable envelope to take the risk.
“It is not trespassing to go beyond your own boundaries,” he added.
Jones also emphasized the importance of focusing on perfecting your own technique, not on trying to be better than others or doing what everyone else is doing — a lesson he learned from Bob Gilka, who was the head of photography at National Geographic when Jones was hired.
“He said, ‘You know, Dewitt, the people who photograph for (this magazine) are the best in the world. And you're one of them now,’” Jones remembered. “‘You don't have to prove yourself … but by God, every day, you had better improve yourself. I want you to spend every day trying to be better than you were yesterday.’
“He changed the way I did everything from that day forward,” Jones said.
By focusing on improving our own techniques and strengths instead of worrying about how we measure up to others, Jones argued, we can free ourselves from our hang-ups.
“When we really are doing that improving, not proving, believing that there's more than one right answer (and) reframing obstacles into opportunities, that's when we'll begin to lose all our fear of mistakes or setbacks,” he said.
No matter what your career or passion, Jones said, your chances of achieving great success are slim if you don’t put yourself in a place of great potential. For Jones, that meant literally traveling to locations with the most potential for finding the perfect shot.
“If nature is going to open up multiple windows of opportunity, where do I have the best chance of finding them?” Jones would ask himself. “There are 1,000 ways to come at any challenge to find that extraordinary view.”
Jones recalled one particular photo assignment where things weren’t going exactly as he’d hoped — but by being open to the location’s great potential, as well as to advice from someone who knew the place well, Jones was able to get even better pictures than he’d anticipated.
While on location in Scotland to shoot a campaign for Dewar’s Scotch, the weather wasn’t what Jones had planned for — but a local fisherman advised him that if he came back the next day, he might see something extraordinary, albeit unexpected.
“He said, ‘You know, laddie, there was mist on the water this morning. That's unusual for this time of year.’ And I climbed all over it,” Jones recalled. “I want to be in the place of most potential. So, I'm out there two hours before dawn, and when the light starts coming up, I got the boats, and I got the fishermen. … I got my first right answer, (and) they just kept coming.”
Even if you do put yourself in the place of most potential, Jones argued, it won’t make a difference if you aren’t open to the possibilities and what the world has to offer.
“When the great photographer Minor White would go out to photograph, he would never say, ‘What will I take today?’” Jones recalled. “Rather, he would ask, ‘What will I be given today?’ And I would add: Will I be open enough to see it?”
For photographers, the possibilities are endless — but over the course of his career, Jones noticed that many people mistakenly believe that there’s only so much beauty to go around.
“Mother Nature never stood in front of a forest and said, ‘There is one great photograph hidden here. One photographer will find it, and the rest of you will be hopeless losers,’” Jones said. “No, nature says, ‘How many rolls you got, Dewitt? Bring it on! … I'll fill it up with beauty and possibility beyond your wildest imaginings, right down to my tiniest seed.’”
Along with being open to all of the possibilities, Jones argued that being willing to look for the next right answer instead of believing that there’s only one right answer is not only transformational — it is “the key to creativity.”
“So many things begin to change when you come at the world from that perspective,” Jones explained. “As you press on, looking for that next right answer, … you do so not in terror but comfortably knowing it's going to be there for you. And you really do begin to embrace change rather than fear it. You really do hit the day with a sense of possibility, not paralysis. And you just get more and more comfortable with reframing an obstacle into an opportunity.”
Jones saved his most important step for last, positing that how you see the world — and what you choose to focus on — will affect everything else in your life.
“It's your vision that's going to make you a success, because vision controls our perception — and our perception becomes our reality,” Jones said.
Jones began cultivating a vision of positivity when he was hired by National Geographic, who always encouraged him to focus his camera lens on the good instead of the bad.
“What they charged me with, every time they sent me out, was to celebrate what was right with the world,” Jones said. “I mean, why do you think we keep those silly yellow magazines? It's a national sacrilege to throw one away! Why? Because they celebrate what's right with the world.”
Jones acknowledged that it’s not always easy to find — or even look for — the positive, especially in the midst of overwhelming struggles, like the COVID-19 pandemic. But he still encourages everyone to try.
“I'm not going to deny that there's very real pain and suffering in the world,” Jones said. “But if I'm in love with life, I've got a lot more energy to face (it). By celebrating what's right, we find the energy to fix what's wrong. And (it’s) so important … to have a vision that will give us energy at a time when so many things are trying to take it away.”
Even when focusing on the good doesn’t come easily, Jones believes that we can become champions of finding the positive in the world the same way we become proficient in anything: practice, practice, practice.
“Unless you … make it a practice, it's not going to change your life,” Jones acknowledged. “This means that, every day, you have to consciously say, ‘I am going to celebrate what's right in my life.’”
So, how do you begin celebrating the good? In Jones’ opinion, it helps to tap into your passions — that is, things that “fill (your) cup”. This can be anything from sports to music to good conversations, and everything in between. It’s just a matter of finding it in your own life.
“You're going to have to go out and say …, ‘I just had an amazing interaction with my friends. I just saw the sunset. I just read a good book,’” Jones suggested. “Whatever it is that fills your cup up to where you overflow (and) you say, ‘These are things that make me glad to be alive.’”
By taking all four of these steps in our lives, Jones truly believes that we can change our perspective — and, ultimately, change the world.
“We can celebrate the best in every situation and every person every day,” Jones said. “We'll have the tools and the vision to face any challenge … while celebrating, with gratitude and with grace, all that we've been given. That perspective, that vision, it will change your life, as it has changed mine.”
Photojournalist, filmmaker and former National Geographic photographer Dewitt Jones delivered a keynote address on celebrating the good in the world at the 2021 Alltech ONE Ideas Conference.
“As a society, globally, we seem to be struggling with finding a universally agreed-upon set of facts,” said Dr. Mark Lyons, president and CEO of Alltech, at the opening of the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference (ONE) on June 22. “With more data at our fingertips, we find it even harder to agree upon the truth.”
A few years ago, a book called “Factfulness” was shared with Dr. Lyons, and it transformed his perspective of the world. Since then, the book has been featured twice in the Alltech virtual book club, and hundreds of copies have been given away to Alltech colleagues and friends around the world.
The book was written by Hans Rosling in collaboration with his son, Ola Rosling, and his daughter-in-law, Anna Rosling Rönnlund. Together, they founded Gapminder to combat misconceptions and present facts, global trends and data in a way that everybody can understand. Rönnlund is also the founder of Dollar Street, which reflects her own passion for photography by using images and videos to promote a fact-based view of the world.
“What if we are wrong about the world?” asked Anna Rosling Rönnlund, the first keynote speaker at ONE this year. “How can we then make sure we do the right things?”
The world is full of problems. Climate change and COVID-19 are two hot topics, to name a few. To check whether conference attendees’ worldview was up to date, Rönnlund carried out a short quiz with 18 multiple-choice questions on topics that varied from suicide to low-income countries, farming and plastic waste. You can take the quiz here.
1. The suicide rate decreased by 25% over the past 20 years.
2. 9% of countries are low-income countries now.
3. 6% of plastic waste ends up in the ocean.
Below are the results of ONE participant responses comparing to the facts:
On average, attendees only answered 4.7 of the 18 questions correctly. The results demonstrated that our perspective of the world is often not based on facts and, as a result, can cloud our judgment.
1 .The things we learned in school have become outdated.
2. What we see around us is a narrow slice of reality.
3. The news is overdramatic — we only hear about extraordinary events, instead of things like, “Yesterday, all trains were on time again.”
To broaden our horizon and see the truth about ordinary things, Rönnlund suggested that we pay attention to what’s happening in reality as well.
“We need to look at how people really sleep, how they brush their teeth, where they go to the toilet even,” said Rönnlund. “We need to see that everyday reality (in order) to understand that most of us are having everyday struggles that look pretty much the same, even though we might be in different countries and on different income levels.”
You can see pictures of items and activities from households with different income levels around the world here.
“But that (seeing everyday reality) is not enough. We also need to look at the data,” Rönnlund noted before sharing 32 things that have improved in the world over time.
For example, legal slavery has decreased dramatically, deaths due to disasters have all but disappeared, fewer children are dying, more kids are getting vaccinated and there are more movies to choose from.
“So, a lot of things are actually improving, but we’re very bad at seeing these slow trends on a global level,” said Rönnlund. “Instead, we see the media, and we see the drama all around us.”
The world is, in so many ways, getting better. However, there are still many problems to solve. The danger of being wrong about data and global trends is that we might end up solving the wrong problems — or solving them in the wrong order.
Even when we are highly educated and know the facts, the world keeps changing. In addition, our brains love dramatic stories more than the truth about global trends. We need to trick our brains to be smarter without spending too much time learning.
With this in mind, the authors of “Factfulness” developed the 10 Rules of Thumb to control the dramatic instincts in our minds.
1. The Gap Instinct: We tend to think about the world as divided, such as either poor or rich. The majority, however, is in the middle.
2. The Negativity Instinct: Our brains might think things keep getting worse because of what we hear, but sometimes, we should ask ourselves: Would an improvement get publicity?
3. The Straight Line Instinct: When we see a trend, we tend to think it will continue. However, many lines bend.
4. The Fear Instinct: Often, we see and search for stories that are dramatic and interesting, but our brains overdramatize reality.
5. The Size Instinct: Everything we hear on a global level seems to be huge because the numbers add up. But we need to compare, divide and put things in perspective.
6. The Generalization Instinct: For example, we tend to group people together and think they are all the same, even if they have different backgrounds.
7. The Destiny Instinct: Thinking that nothing can be done because of destiny is a bad ground for doing change work.
8. The Single Instinct: We tend to think that we have a hammer, and we want to use it on everything we see. To make smart decisions, however, we need to use a toolbox.
9. The Blame Instinct: This is our instinct of pointing fingers at certain people, forcing them to bear the guilt for things going bad.
10. The Urgency Instinct: We often feel the urge to do something big immediately upon hearing about dramatic events happening around us. “There is a risk of doing the wrong thing and doing too much of it, which might cause problems rather than fix them,” said Rönnlund. “What we need to do is to take one step at a time and keep evaluating and keep looking at it.”
1. Foster data literacy by providing transparent and free data.
2. Make the world more understandable by visualizing data, especially in schools. “We need to serve the brain enough excitement so it’s interested enough to keep listening, and (we should) stay true to the facts and ensure we are not overexaggerating anything,” advised Rönnlund.
3. Be humble and curious. “You don't want to be looked at as someone who’s … wrong, but according to the testing we have done, we’ve seen that most people are wrong in most industries, in most ages, in most educational levels,” shared Rönnlund. “I think, if we are humble and curious and start looking for the data, we will find data, because it is existing.”
4. Keep upgrading our worldview, because the world keeps changing, and so do the facts about it. A lot of data is freely available from big organizations online. “We need to foster this new habit with curiosity and humility, looking for facts, and keep updating them,” said Rönnlund. “It’s not a small thing, because it’s about rewiring the way we think as a species, but I think we have to start doing it.”
5. Beware of unreliable data. Most information around us is not fake, but we get it wrong anyway. We also now have to deal with fake news. Be sure to check your sources.
6. Reach out beyond your network. When it comes to social media, look for friends of your friends or distant relatives to widen your point of view. Explore other fields of interest to broaden your understanding of how people see things differently.
“Factfulness is recognizing that a single perspective can limit your imagination,” said Dr. Lyons in the conclusion of the session. “And remember that it is better to look at problems from many different angles. When we see the world in this way, we truly become possible-ists, people who can really see clearly how progress can be made, the potential ahead, and make sure that we can play a role in making it better.”
“Africa is the fastest-growing continent. Africa is getting educated now. Africa is where you need to be. Africa is where you (should) look to grow your food.”
That’s what Dr. Ruth Oniang’o, a keynote speaker at the 2021 Alltech ONE Ideas Conference (ONE), used to tell her fellow board members when she served on the board of Nestlé. A professor of nutrition and former member of Parliament in Kenya, Dr. Oniang’o has spent her career advocating for food and nutrition policies that will feed the world’s fastest-growing continent and increase access to food across Africa.
Over the past several decades, many African countries have made great strides in reducing chronic hunger, malnutrition and weight loss — but with one in five African people still “chronically undernourished,” including millions of children, there is much more work left to be done to help turn African communities into examples of food security.
Dr. Oniang’o’s approach is a holistic one. Beyond her focus on growing healthier crops and strengthening food assistance, her work is transforming society through avenues that most people may not think of when it comes to food and nutrition.
The first step to transforming how Africa grows and eats is identifying who’s behind the continent’s current food production.
“In Africa, it’s mostly women who are producing food,” said Dr. Oniang’o during her keynote address at ONE. “And I said, ‘No wonder we are a hungry continent. Women are already overworked. They bring up children, many children. They have to farm. They have to feed them.’”
We cannot solve hunger in Africa without women, Dr. Oniang’o argued. By elevating their value in society and providing them with the education and resources they need to manage their farms, their families and their health, we can create conditions that will allow African women to grow more food, feed a greater number of people and share their knowledge with others.
One major key to that empowerment is literacy. According to data from the United Nations, the adult literacy rate in sub-Saharan Africa is around 63% — meaning that one in three adults in the region, or some 182 million people, cannot read. And while some African countries have higher literacy rates, many are actually lower: South Sudan’s 35% literacy rate is among the lowest in the world.
Promoting adult literacy, both via governments and NGOs, leads to more educated adults across Africa, which has positive, long-term effects related to food, nutrition and families.
“Adult literacy is so important,” said Dr. Oniang’o, “because when women are educated, they will not want too many children. They'll want to do other things. They'll take good care of themselves, take care of their family, and therefore, their children will survive better. They want a better life for themselves, and they know what foods to provide to the family.”
No matter where they are in the world, farmers need resources of all kinds, from education and research to funds to help purchase seeds, nutrients and supplies. Providing resources directly to farmers is one of the fastest ways to improve their conditions and crop yields, as well as the health and nutrition of their families and communities. And providing resources to farmers doesn’t just help build individual and community food security — it can help alleviate poverty, too, since extreme poverty and hunger have “a cyclical relationship” in Africa, according to the United Nations. Hungry people have a hard time working, and people who can’t work have a hard time affording food.
“If we do agriculture properly — if we distribute our resources properly — we can get people out of poverty,” said Dr. Oniang’o. “As someone who has worked with farmers right on the ground, it doesn't take a whole lot. It doesn't take a whole lot to transform a community and to make them have more food and to have them eat better.”
We can’t increase the production of food sources without addressing soil health. Unhealthy, malnourished soil leads to malnourished crops that wither instead of thriving. Finding ways to improve soil health — like rotating in legumes to boost the nitrogen in the soil and supplementing malnourished soils with nutrients — helps foster healthier crops and establishes farming practices that will be more sustainable over time.
Dr. Oniang’o first realized the importance of soil health when she saw crops that looked weak and frail, mirroring the effects of malnutrition in adults and children in Africa. She advocates for ways to help farmers improve their soil health, starting with technologies like rapid soil tests to help farmers identify deficiencies within their soils — a prerequisite to growing stronger, healthier crops. After all, as she said, “If the soils are not healthy, human beings cannot be healthy.”
“Nobody can do this alone,” said Dr. Oniang’o. “(The) private sector has a role to play. Public-sector government has a role to play. Civil society has a role to play. Everyone has a role to play.”
Implementing change on a continental scale cannot be done alone. It takes local groups and national governments to put all of the practices outlined above into place in support of individuals, communities and countries. National and local governments, NGOs, scientists, farmers and private-sector companies all have a role to play. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) notes that “increasing yields for staple crops (in Sub-Saharan Africa) will require greater investment, both domestically and through assistance from donors and international research organizations.”
Local groups across Africa know what local farmers need. By listening to these stakeholders, private companies, national governments and international collaborative efforts can find ways to be good partners, bringing about change on a scale that local groups can’t accomplish alone. These partnerships can help decrease food insecurity across Africa and transform the future of the continent for the long term.
Imagine it: a farmer in Kenya learns to read. She’s able to take advantage of educational materials and research that help her grow her crops more efficiently, with higher yields and healthier soils for her specific growing conditions. She’s given the resources she needs to put these findings into practice, thanks to partnerships between her local government and private companies. She’s able to feed her family and even has a surplus to help feed others, contribute to a food bank or sell for a profit. She’s valued and respected as an expert; she shares her knowledge with other farmers nearby, and she helps build communities that are more food-secure — and the ripple effects continue to spread.
By investing in her, we invest in the future of Africa. That’s how we transform the future of food: one farmer at a time.
When it comes to our priorities in life, our day-to-day concerns can often take precedence over our long-term goals. We are constantly focused on what is happening right now, in our careers, families, social lives and more. Very rarely do we take the time, or even get the opportunity, to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. However, when we do get to take this broader view, it is only then that we begin to observe the issues that not only affect ourselves but the world and the people around us. And not only can we identify these challenges, but we can also engage with them and develop the opportunities and solutions that will help us all for generations to come.
This was one of the main themes of “Economics and Health: A Natural Connection,” an in-depth keynote discussion between Alltech president and CEO Dr. Mark Lyons and Irish economist, author and university lecturer David McWilliams during the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference. Over the course of their conversation, the two speakers discussed a range of different countries that significantly influence global agriculture and assessed how their current and potential agricultural practices could affect the world as we know it.
“How do we become what will be described as ‘good ancestors,’” asked McWilliams, “so people in the future can look back at us and say, ‘They left the place in good nick’?”
This conversation came on the heels of a new animation project between Alltech and McWilliams. In a series of short videos, the two teamed up to focus on different nations’ economies in a quest to understand them better and learn how our histories and ideas are interrelated.
“We thought it would be a good way to look at what's the big global challenge,” McWilliams explained. “What are the historic, what are the momentous events going on? And then (we can) say, ‘Okay, how do these percolate down into countries big and small, major producers but also small, nimble producers?”
The outcome of this journey into world economics has been the revelation that everything is connected and that we all have a part to play in the betterment of our planet.
“What the (COVID-19) pandemic has told us is that none of us are alone, none of us can isolate ourselves, and the world is kind of smaller than we thought — and more interrelated,” McWilliams continued.
The first of these country-focused animations looked at the United States. In the video, McWilliams pointed out that:
Taking all of this information into account, McWilliams insisted that the U.S. itself will be the source of change in our environmental future.
“I think American culture is changing, at least when you see it from the outside,” explained McWilliams when asked his thoughts on the current Biden administration and what it means for the future of the U.S. “He's saying, ‘There's no point being wealthy if the wealth is only (in the hands of) a small minority. The wealth has to trickle down to everybody else. And if it doesn't trickle down, we're going to force it up.’”
What President Biden understands, according to McWilliams, is that the environment and inequality are the important issues and that they need to be addressed in order for the world to move forward, even if that goes against previously held beliefs.
“We are now at this phenomenal, intergenerational tipping point that the older generation isn't quite getting and the younger generation hasn't quite articulated,” said McWilliams. “But what it is is a change of macroeconomic policy, and what is driving the entire thing is this idea that we cannot simply be a gratification mindset, all of us together.
“We cannot have an immediate gratification mindset, which is ‘me, mine, my balance sheet, my profit margin, etc.,’” he continued. “We have to have a legacy mindset that we are, as I said at the top of the animation, we're just custodians. We're only passing through, right?”
McWilliams also highlighted the Biden administration’s understanding that the farming community is key to addressing these issues, especially regarding the country’s environmental impact. He said that the president realizes that agriculture is the solution to meeting carbon-neutral targets in the future. With this in mind, McWilliams believes U.S. agriculture is about to go through an enormous change, reinstating confidence and self-belief in the industry that has been missing for a long time.
“Before the industrial age, before the electricity age, before the internet age, there was agriculture,” McWilliams stated. “And agriculture will be the industry of the future, because only agriculture can naturally bring us to carbon neutrality. So, I think it's a really exciting time.”
When it comes to feeding the world, Brazil is at the forefront. The South American country is:
But, according to the animation created by Alltech and McWilliams, Brazil has often failed to spread the good news stories of its agri-food industry. While its soybean farmers may feed billions, we only ever hear nightmarish stories of them forcing cattle ranchers off their land and allowing the rainforest to be destroyed. The video suggests that maybe now is the time for Brazil to reassess its legacy and to show how, rather being than part of the problem, its agricultural industry is actually integral to the global solution.
McWilliams is convinced that as long as Brazil can improve the messaging, it could be at the forefront of agricultural and environmental change.
“It seemed to me that if Brazil gets its agriculture right, the world gets its agriculture right,” explained McWilliams. “And what happens in Brazil will happen elsewhere around the developing world.”
However, he believes that the country first has to get its story right. He suggested that Brazil has to focus on aggressively positive messaging, revealing to people how much of what they eat comes from Brazil and how efficiently it is produced.
“And that, I think, is its challenge over the next 10 or 15 years, because it's clear that Brazil is going to go from strength to strength in terms of basic production,” concluded McWilliams. “The question is: Can it go from strength to strength in terms of people's perceptions of whether Brazil is a good environmental citizen?”
According to the next installment in this animation series, the next 30 years will be the most important in the history of agriculture. This will be mainly due to the changing economic and agricultural landscape of China and Asia as a whole.
The short video states that in order for China to succeed in becoming the world’s largest economy and military power, it must secure a sufficient food supply for its people and ensure that they are not subjected to inflated food prices. However, this is complicated by the fact that China has limited natural resources, particularly water. The outcome has been a transformation and modernization of Chinese agriculture, an industry that utilizes cutting-edge agriculture technology like no other country. This development has allowed China to stake its claim as the world’s most sustainable food producer.
Another huge trend in China and Asia as a whole, McWilliams pointed out, is that with newfound wealth comes a change in diet. This can be seen with upper-middle-class Asians, who are dining on a more Western diet of beef and dairy instead of traditional tofu and rice. This shift in taste is another indicator of how the continent will influence food and agriculture production and the supply chain as we move forward.
“The future is one whereby China will try and do whatever it can to make sure that its agricultural production remains high and/or that it can buy in food,” McWilliams explained.
When considering a list of some of the biggest agri-food producers and consumers on the planet, you could be forgiven for thinking that the addition of this small island on the edge of the Atlantic was a clerical error. But Ireland is a significant player when it comes to the global agriculture industry. According to the animation focusing on the island, Ireland’s geographic location and climate make it the perfect place for healthy grass growth. And with healthy grass growth comes healthy cows. This amounts to a total of $13 billion in annual food exports.
However, there are large stumbling blocks scattered along Ireland’s path to energy-efficient and sustainable food production. One is the commonly encountered misconception that the solution to reducing carbon emissions is to reduce food production — something that McWilliams said the European Union is pushing but that he believes is a mistake.
“In order for the European Union to get an aggregate reduction in carbon emissions,” McWilliams evaluated, “it would seem to me much more logical to favor those countries that have had an evolutionary or ecological or environmental gift, in order to actually produce more, not less, in places like this, because your input/output ratio is so much lower here (in Ireland) than it is either in the parched Mediterranean or in the frozen tundra of the North.”
McWilliams believes that in order for Irish agriculture to modernize and grow, it needs to take a leaf out of the book of one of Ireland’s leading sectors: technology, which generates over $25 billion in exports. He said in the animation that embracing innovation could cultivate new agricultural breakthroughs, making Ireland the most resource-efficient, carbon-neutral, sustainable food producer on Earth — something which, in turn, could produce a new export: incredibly valuable ag-tech.
In concluding the discussion, McWilliams reiterated that everything in economics is interrelated and that positive change now will lead to further growth in the future, allowing us to leave a positive legacy for generations to come.
Embracing long-term legacy thinking will lead to healthier people, healthier societies and a healthier planet.
Ahora en su 37 ª edición, el evento insignia de Alltech continúa siendo un referente invaluable para la industria agroalimentaria, al ofrecer un contenido inigualable e ideas innovadoras, así como la inspiración y la motivación de conferenciantes de talla mundial. Los asistentes de 99 países tendrán acceso a una plataforma virtual que ofrecerá sesiones temáticas con contenido disponible 24/7, conferencias magistrales vía streaming, workshops en directo y una experiencia interactiva de networking.
“Nos encontramos en el inicio de un nuevo escenario, y no creo que sea algo nuevo solo para Alltech. Considero que es una nueva etapa de crecimiento para el sector de la agroalimentación, que será liderada por una visión innovadora”, señaló el Dr. Mark Lyons, presidente y CEO de Alltech, durante el discurso de apertura del evento. “Queremos ofrecer soluciones más inteligentes y sostenibles para nuestros clientes y para toda la industria agroalimentaria”.
Anna Rosling Rönnlund (Vicepresidenta y Directora de Diseño y de Experiencia de Usuario de Gapminder, y coautora de “Factfulness) fue una de las conferenciantes magistrales en la ceremonia de apertura del martes 22 de junio. Rönnlund diseñó la interfaz de usuario de “Trendalizer”, la famosa herramienta animada de gráficos de burbujas, que ayuda a comprender las tendencias globales de desarrollo. La herramienta fue finalmente adquirida por Google y es utilizada ahora por millones de estudiantes de todo el mundo. Junto con los cofundadores de Gapminder, Rönnlund ha sido la coautora del libro “Factfulness”, donde comparte su visión sobre los diez instintos que pueden distorsionar nuestra perspectiva del mundo e impedir que veamos la verdad.
“Efectivamente están mejorando muchas cosas, pero no somos muy buenos en percibir estas lentas tendencias a nivel mundial”, dijo Rönnlund. “Necesitamos tener una visión del mundo basada en hechos, y necesitamos recordar que tenemos que seguir actualizando nuestra visión del mundo, porque el mundo cambia y también los datos sobre él.”
Como fotógrafo profesional, director de cine y ex fotoperiodista para National Geographic, Dewitt Jones ha labrado su profesión de storytelling a través de imágenes, y ha viajado por todo el mundo con la misión de encontrar lo extraordinario en lo ordinario. A través de sus historias irresistibles y fotografías espectaculares, Jones compartió con nosotros cómo cambiando su lente puede cambiar su vida.
“Estos son tiempos turbulentos y las olas de cambio parecen amenazar nuestra propia supervivencia. Por lo cual, ¿qué te dejará ver tu visión?”, preguntó Jones durante su conferencia magistral. “¿Verás un mundo oscuro, a medio colorear, donde los sueños desaparecen en la lejanía – un mundo en el que incluso las metas no parecen dignas de luchar por ellas-? ¿O tu visión te permitirá todavía ver un mundo lleno de belleza y alegría y posibilidades?”
Durante la primera jornada de la Conferencia de Ideas de Alltech ONE se reconoció a los ganadores del 2020 del Premio Innovación y Calidad en Periodismo Agropecuario de la Red CALC y Alltech. En su novena edición, esta distinción que destaca los mejores trabajos periodísticos de los comunicadores de los países hispanohablantes de América Latina, enfocados en los agronegocios, premió a la periodista chilena Sofía Neumann Olavarría por su artículo ‘5 innovaciones chilenas que impactarán a la industria agrícola’ y a su colega ecuatoriano Nicolás Gómez Bernal por su investigación ‘RAZA 4 une a los países latinoamericanos en defensa de sus plantaciones’.
“Queremos destacar que durante estos años este concurso ha sido testigo de cómo el periodismo de innovación en el sector agroalimentario se ha ido consolidando en América Latina”, señaló Francisco Contardo Morandé (miembro de la Red-CALC y parte del jurado de esta edición). “Asimismo, estamos constatando cada vez más el interés y la participación de más periodistas y una mayor especialización, así como con nuevos medios apoyando la tecnología”.
Las sesiones magistrales de la Alltech ONE Ideas Conference, los temas disponibles 24/7 y los workshops en directo “Planet of Plenty”, inaugurados esta semana, incluyen:
Martes, 22 de junio
14:00 horas: Sesión magistral
16:30 horas
17:00 horas: Workshops “Planet of Plenty”
Miércoles, 23 de junio
15:00 horas: Sesión magistral
17:00 horas: Workshops “Planet of Plenty”
Jueves, 24 de junio
15:00 horas: Sesión magistral
17:00 horas: Workshops “Planet of Plenty”
19:00 horas: Workshop en directo Planet of Plenty con la presencia de Shirzad Chamine
Durante el transcurso de la Alltech ONE Ideas Conference, más de 70 presentaciones bajo demanda explorarán desafíos y oportunidades en los sectores de la acuicultura, del vacuno de carne, los negocios, la agronomía, el vacuno de leche, los equinos, salud y bienestar, mascotas, cerdos y aves. La inscripción para la Alltech ONE Ideas Conference permanecerá abierta, ofertando a los asistentes el acceso 24/7 a todos los contenidos bajo demanda, incluyendo las conferencias magistrales y los contenidos temáticos, hasta abril de 2022.
Os cenários de otimização de ganhos na terminação de bovinos confinados são estritamente ligados ao desempenho zootécnico dos animais. Já a saúde financeira do sistema produtivo é ligada à conversão de alimentação fornecida em tecido muscular e adiposo na carcaça. Assim, tecnologias alimentares que possam otimizar uma maior conversão da dieta em ganhos de carcaça no período de terminação devem ser consideradas para aumentar a lucratividade do sistema.
Por décadas já se conhece a tecnologia de enzimas exógenas na alimentação de ruminantes. Na vanguarda desta tendência, a Alltech foi a primeira empresa a desenvolver uma enzima para ruminantes, em 1995. Mas à medida que os estudos foram evoluindo, a compreensão de como utilizar esse aliado tecnológico de maneira mais eficiente tem ganhado força.
Na alimentação de monogástricos, o uso de enzimas é altamente correlacionado aos substratos presentes na dieta, considerando especialmente que o animal não tenha capacidade enzimática de aproveitar tudo o que é oferecido na alimentação. Porém, em ruminantes, é necessário compreender que os animais possuem uma câmara fermentativa, o rúmen, que conta com grande população microbiana, a qual tem acesso inicial à alimentação e que faz boa parte do trabalho de digestão. Sendo assim, o uso de enzimas em ruminantes passa a ser mais complexo do que em monogástricos e os estudos mais recentes tem mostrado que uma interpretação correta do modo de ação faz toda a diferença na eficácia da tecnologia.
As enzimas podem agir de diferentes maneiras em ruminantes. Seja atuando diretamente no alimento dentro do rúmen ou no estímulo ao bom funcionamento do sistema digestivo. Existe ainda uma possibilidade de ação pós-rúmen, contribuindo, por exemplo, com a degradação da fibra na digesta intestinal (McAllister et al., 2001).
Além das variadas formas de ação, outro desafio no fornecimento eficiente de enzimas é a falta de clareza quanto aos resultados relacionados às enzimas e às atividades enzimáticas utilizadas. Essa confusão se torna bem evidente ao compararmos os trabalhos publicados, uma vez que há uma grande diferença nos resultados encontrados com, teoricamente, a mesma enzima, levando os pesquisadores a uma dificuldade em comparar a eficácia do uso de enzimas exógenas. Produtos com rótulos idênticos, podem ter diferenças nos efeitos que causam, por exemplo, na digestão da fibra, afinal, os termos celulase, hemicelulase e xilanase são termos genéricos para grupos de atividades enzimáticas. Muitos trabalhos, inclusive, são publicados sem referência da atividade enzimática. Exemplo: celulases são um complexo de várias endo e exobetaglucanases, celobiohidrolase e celobiase (Adesogan et al., 2014). Outra evidência está na afirmação de um grupo de pesquisa que avaliou diversos produtos comerciais com enzimas para ruminantes: “Existe uma variação de produtos enorme e consequentemente variação de respostas em diversos estudos anteriores” (Adesogan et al., 2014).
A busca pela exatidão nos resultados tem impulsionado pesquisas cada vez mais detalhadas sobre o tema. As enzimas (amilase e xilanase exógena) foram avaliadas em diversos trabalhos científicos junto a universidades e institutos de pesquisa. Eles comprovaram que a inclusão na dosagem correta poderia potencializar os ganhos zootécnicos de bovinos de corte em fase de terminação. Confira os resultados a seguir.
Bovinos cruzados (n=240) foram divididos entre os tratamentos e parte deles recebeu 5g/animal/dia de amilase exógena. Houve um aumento significativo de ganho de peso diário e peso de carcaça quente, com o mesmo nível de consumo. A amilase exógena auxiliou no desempenho, o que é chave na rentabilidade por cabeça.
Figura 1. Ganho de peso em terminação e peso de carcaça de animais suplementados com amilase exógena (Amaize®). Adaptado de Jolly-Breithaupt et al., 2018
Figura 2. Ganho médio diário (GMD) e consumo de matéria seca (MS) de bovinos em terminação suplementados com amilase exógena (Amaize®). Adaptado de Jolly-Breithaupt et al., 2018.
Os bovinos cruzados (Simental x Angus) que foram abatidos com diferença de 10kg de Peso Vivo, apresentaram diferença de 1kg de carcaça a favor dos animais que receberam 5g/dia de amilase exógena, o que mostra uma grande capacidade de auxiliar no rendimento de carcaça.
Figura 3. Peso ao abate e peso de carcaça de bovinos terminados com suplementação de amilase exógena (Amaize®). Adaptado de Elolimy et al., 2018.
Ao se avaliar a expressão de genes no tecido muscular dos animais, foi observado que os bovinos que consumiram amilase exógena tiveram maior atividade de genes ligados à adipogênese, metabolismo de ácidos graxos, síntese de glicoesfingolipídeos, metabolismo energético e proteico.
| Gene | Aumento de expressão |
| NR4A3 | 3,07 x a mais |
| PPARGC1A | 2,93 x a mais |
| ABRA | 2,01 x a mais |
| FOXO1 | 1,81 x a mais |
Figura 4. Genes que tiveram sua expressão aumentada quando amilase exógena (Amaize®) foi suplementada. Adaptado de Elolimy et al., 2018.
Os estudos feitos no Brasil também mostram grandes benefícios no uso de enzimas exógenas na terminação de bovinos.
Uma avaliação conduzida pelo grupo de pesquisa do professor Flávio D. de Resende, da Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios (APTA) mostrou que é possível alterar parâmetros ruminais e metabólicos de bovinos Nelore suplementados com amilase exógena (Nascimento et al., 2017), fatores que podem ter contribuído com um incremento de ganho de peso durante a terminação e aumento no peso de carcaça (Nascimento et al., 2018).
Um outro estudo conduzido pelo grupo de pesquisa do professor Gustavo R. Siqueira, da APTA, mostrou que a inclusão de enzima fibrolítica exógena para bovinos Nelore consumindo Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu, na fase de terminação, aumentou o peso de carcaça quente, a cobertura de gordura da carcaça e a eficiência do suplemento (g de carcaça por g de suplemento ingerido) (Miorin et al.,2017).
Figura 5. Diferença de 8 kg de peso de carcaça de bovinos suplementados com enzima fibrolítica exógena (Fibrozyme®) na fase de terminação. Adaptado de Miorin et al., 2017).
Tendo como base os resultados de pesquisa, e sob orientação técnica frente à cada desafio de dietas, pode-se tomar uma decisão assertiva de inclusão da tecnologia alimentar de enzimas exógenas na alimentação de bovinos em fase de terminação e se obter uma otimização do desempenho zootécnico dos animais.
Acutia Brain Health es el segundo suplemento que se lanza al mercado, luego de la presentación inicial de Acutia Selenium en marzo de este año.
[Lexington, Kentucky] – Acutia anuncia la ampliación de su línea de productos con el lanzamiento de Acutia Brain Health. Al combinar el selenio, la vitamina C y el omega-3 DHA, este suplemento apoya la salud cognitiva y la función cerebral; además de proporcionar beneficios antioxidantes y nutrientes esenciales.
El sistema de empaque especial de Acutia Brain Health ayudará a reducir los desperdicios, lo que refleja el compromiso de la compañía con la sostenibilidad; mientras que las emisiones de dióxido de carbono, originadas por su transporte, serán compensadas a través de una alianza con Nori.
“Estamos muy contentos de anunciar el muy esperado lanzamiento de Acutia Brain Health”, señaló Nikki Putnam Badding (dietista-nutricionista registrada y Directora de Acutia). “Esta innovación fortalece nuestro compromiso de ayudar a las personas a mantener su propio bienestar y la salud de nuestro planeta”.
El anuncio de este lanzamiento se realizó en una sesión de preguntas y respuestas virtual durante la Conferencia de Ideas de Alltech ONE. Putnam Badding indicó, además, que Acutia Brain Health ya está lista para ser distribuida en casi todas las regiones del mundo.
La línea de productos de Acutia también incluye Acutia Selenium, que brinda apoyo al sistema inmunológico, beneficios antioxidantes y una nutrición esencial; y ayuda a mantener una función tiroidea saludable.
El selenio que contiene tanto Acutia Selenium como Acutia Brain Health está elaborado a partir de una cepa específica de alta calidad de la levadura de la cerveza; que optimiza la calidad, la absorción, la seguridad y la eficacia de los productos.
Acutia es una subsidiaria de propiedad absoluta de Alltech, que fue presentada el pasado 24 de marzo, cuando Alltech –compañía líder mundial en la industria de la salud animal– comunicó que empezaría a aplicar sus más de 40 años de innovación científica y sus conocimientos comprobados en nutrición; en la salud humana. En Acutia se conjuga la ciencia y la sostenibilidad, para proporcionar suplementos de calidad superior que mejoran la alimentación diaria y contribuyen con el bienestar a largo plazo.
“Mantener una salud cerebral óptima es necesario para que podamos llevar una vida con plenitud”, resaltó el Dr. Mark Lyons (Presidente y CEO de Alltech). “Acutia Brain Health permite a las personas satisfacer sus requerimientos nutricionales diarios, a la vez que apoya su bienestar para el futuro”.
Los productos de Acutia están respaldados por Alltech Life Sciences, una división de Alltech que lleva a cabo investigaciones sobre salud digestiva, salud cognitiva, función cerebral y salud celular. En 2019, los científicos de Alltech Life Sciences lograron un gran avance al ofrecer una posible alternativa a los tratamientos actuales con insulina para las personas que viven con diabetes.
Acutia Digestive Health completará la oferta inicial de Acutia y se presentará al mercado a fines de este año.
Os nomes foram divulgados em cerimônia durante o primeiro dia do Alltech ONE Simpósio de Ideias
O Prêmio Alltech de Jornalismo 2020 anunciou seus dois vencedores durante o Alltech ONE Simpósio de Ideias, um dos maiores eventos sobre inovação e tecnologia dentro do agronegócio do mundo. Neste ano, o evento acontece de forma online por conta da pandemia da Covid-19. A quinta edição do prêmio contou com 242 trabalhos inscritos, publicados em veículos de rádio, televisão, jornais, portais e revistas. Foram cinco finalistas escolhidos em cada uma das duas categorias: “Agricultura” e “Criação e Nutrição Animal”.
Em “Agricultura”, o jornalista vencedor foi Leandro Faria de Castro Fidelis, repórter da Revista Safra ES, com a reportagem “Café commodity x especial: vale a pena investir?". Já a vencedora na categoria de “Criação e Nutrição Animal” foi a jornalista da TV Globo, Hellen Crishi Piccolo Santos, com a reportagem "Leite orgânico avança entre produtores paulistas", que contou com a participação de Maurino Marques, Fabíola Marzabal, Alexandre Dantas, Francisco Maffezoli Jr. e Renata Puccinelli.
Os trabalhos foram avaliados e selecionados de acordo com os seguintes critérios: adequação ao tema, relevância, utilização de fontes, densidade e exatidão do conteúdo e qualidade editorial e técnica. As matérias foram analisadas por uma comissão julgadora formada por representantes da Associação Brasileira de Imprensa (ABI) e da Alltech. A organização do Prêmio teve apoio do Centro de Comunicação.
Tradicionalmente, a cada edição do Prêmio Alltech de Jornalismo, os vencedores são contemplados com uma ida para o Alltech ONE Simpósio de Ideias, realizado anualmente em Lexington, no Kentucky (EUA). Devido à continuidade da pandemia da Covid-19, a organização precisou adaptar a forma de premiar os vencedores.
Sendo assim, os jornalistas ganhadores em cada categoria tiveram um momento especial de homenagens, durante a 37ª edição do Alltech ONE Simpósio de Ideias. Além disso, receberam uma premiação no valor de R$ 8 mil, equivalente ao previsto para a viagem no regulamento oficial.
Promovida pela empresa Alltech, a premiação tem como foco estimular e valorizar a produção de reportagens veiculadas na imprensa nacional sobre ideias inovadoras no agronegócio. Confira abaixo os finalistas da quinta edição da premiação:
Fundada em 1980 pelo empresário e cientista irlandês Dr. Pearse Lyons, a Alltech oferece tecnologias inteligentes e sustentáveis para o agronegócio. Nossas soluções melhoram a saúde e a nutrição de plantas e animais, oferecendo como resultado produtos mais nutritivos para as pessoas, assim como um menor impacto ao meio ambiente.
Líder global na indústria de saúde animal, produzimos aditivos de leveduras, minerais orgânicos e ingredientes para a alimentação animal. Com o respaldo de mais de 40 anos de pesquisa científica, levamos a diante um legado de inovação e uma cultura única que enxerga desafios por meio de lentes empreendedoras.
Os mais de 5.000 talentosos membros de nossa equipe compartilham da visão Planet of Plenty™ (“Plante de Abundância”). Nós acreditamos que o agronegócio tem grande potencial de construir o futuro de nosso planeta, com um trabalho conjunto de todos, guiados pela ciência, tecnologia e o desejo compartilhado de fazer a diferença.
A Alltech é uma empresa de propriedade privada e familiar, o que permite nos adaptarmos rapidamente às necessidades de nossos clientes e nos concentrarmos em avançadas inovações. A empresa tem uma forte presença em todos os continentes, com sua matriz nos arredores de Lexington, Kentucky, Estados Unidos. Para mais informações visite www.alltech.com.br.
El encuentro virtual de la industria agropecuaria global reúne a participantes de 99 países
[Lexington, Kentucky] – La Conferencia de Ideas de Alltech ONE fue inaugurada hoy de manera virtual, reuniendo a líderes de opinión y agentes de cambio para abordar el poder de la ciencia, la sostenibilidad y dar a conocer historias de éxito. Ahora en su 37º edición, el evento insignia de Alltech continúa siendo un referente invaluable para la industria agropecuaria, al ofrecer un contenido inigualable e ideas innovadoras, así como la inspiración y la motivación de expositores de primer nivel. Los asistentes de 99 países tendrán acceso a una plataforma virtual que ofrecerá sesiones foco bajo demanda, conferencias magistrales vía streaming, talleres en vivo y la posibilidad de acceder a una red de contactos interactiva (que permitirá a los participantes conectarse con colegas de todo el mundo).
“Nos encontramos en el inicio de un nuevo escenario, y no creo que sea algo nuevo solo para Alltech. Considero que es una nueva etapa de crecimiento para el sector de la agroalimentación, que será liderada por una visión innovadora”, señaló el Dr. Mark Lyons, presidente y CEO de Alltech, durante el discurso de apertura del evento. “Queremos ofrecer soluciones más inteligentes y sostenibles para nuestros clientes y para toda la industria agropecuaria”.
Anna Rosling Rönnlund (vicepresidenta y jefa de diseño y experiencia de usuario de Gapminder, y coautora del bestseller ‘Factfulness: Diez razones por las que estamos equivocados sobre el mundo. Y por qué las cosas están mejor de lo que piensas’) fue otra de las expositoras principales durante la inauguración del evento, el martes 22 de junio.
Rönnlund diseñó la interfaz de usuario del famoso programa de gráfico de burbujas animado Trendalyzer, el cual ayuda a comprender mejor las tendencias globales. Esta herramienta fue adquirida por Google y es actualmente utilizada por millones de estudiantes en todo el mundo. Además, junto con los otros cofundadores de Gapminder, escribió el libro ‘Factfulness’; que ofrece una investigación sobre los diez instintos que distorsionan nuestra perspectiva del mundo y que nos impiden verlo como es en realidad.
“En realidad muchas cosas están mejorando en el mundo, pero no somos capaces de ver que estas tendencias avanzan de manera lenta”, dijo Rönnlund. “Debemos tener una perspectiva del mundo basada en hechos, y tenemos que recordar que es necesario actualizar siempre esta visión, porque el mundo cambia, y también la realidad”.
Fotógrafo profesional, cineasta y ex fotoperiodista de National Geographic, Dewitt Jones ha realizado una carrera contando historias a través de imágenes y ha viajado por el mundo con la misión de encontrar lo extraordinario en lo ordinario. Gracias a los cautivadores relatos y fotografías que Jones compartió, mostró que al cambiar de lente se puede cambiar de vida.
“Vivimos tiempos turbulentos y las olas de cambio parecen amenazar incluso nuestra propia supervivencia. Por lo que, ¿tu perspectiva del mundo qué te permite ver?”, preguntó Jones durante su exposición. “¿Observas un mundo oscuro y de colores borrosos, donde las ilusiones desaparecen en la distancia; un mundo donde ni siquiera vale la pena esforzarse para alcanzar objetivos? ¿O tu perspectiva te permite ver un mundo todavía lleno de belleza, alegría y posibilidades?”
Durante la primera jornada de la Conferencia de Ideas de Alltech ONE se reconoció a los ganadores del 2020 del Premio Innovación y Calidad en Periodismo Agropecuario de la Red CALC y Alltech. En su novena edición, esta distinción que destaca los mejores trabajos periodísticos de los comunicadores de los países hispanohablantes de América Latina, enfocados en los agronegocios, premió a la periodista chilena Sofía Neumann Olavarría por su artículo ‘5 innovaciones chilenas que impactarán a la industria agrícola’ y a su colega ecuatoriano Nicolás Gómez Bernal por su investigación ‘RAZA 4 une a los países latinoamericanos en defensa de sus plantaciones’.
“Queremos destacar que durante estos años este concurso ha sido testigo de cómo el periodismo de innovación en el sector agroalimentario se ha ido consolidando en América Latina”, señaló Francisco Contardo Morandé (miembro de la Red-CALC y parte del jurado de esta edición). “Asimismo, estamos constatando cada vez más el interés y la participación de más periodistas y una mayor especialización, así como con nuevos medios apoyando la tecnología”.
Entre las conferencias magistrales, las sesiones foco bajo demanda y los talleres en vivo de Planeta de Abundancia; que se presentarán en esta semana en la Conferencia de Ideas de Alltech ONE, se incluyen:
Martes 22 de junio
8:30 a.m. (hora del Este de los Estados Unidos). Conferencias magistrales:
10:30 a.m. (hora del Este de los Estados Unidos):
11:00 a.m. (hora del Este de los Estados Unidos). Talleres en vivo de Planeta de Abundancia:
Miércoles 23 de junio
9:00 a.m. (hora del Este de los Estados Unidos). Conferencias magistrales:
11:00 a.m. (hora del Este de los Estados Unidos). Talleres en vivo de Planeta de Abundancia:
Jueves 24 de junio
9:00 a.m. (hora del Este de los Estados Unidos). Conferencias magistrales:
11:00 a.m. (hora del Este de los Estados Unidos). Talleres en vivo de Planeta de Abundancia:
1:00 p.m. (hora del Este de los Estados Unidos). Taller de Planeta de Abundancia con Shirzad Chamine:
A lo largo de esta edición de la Conferencia de Ideas de Alltech ONE, más de 70 charlas estarán disponibles bajo demanda que explorarán los desafíos y oportunidades que se presentan en los sectores de la acuacultura; el ganado de carne; los negocios; los cultivos; el ganado de leche; los equinos; la salud y el bienestar; las mascotas; los cerdos; y las aves.
Asimismo, las inscripciones para acceder a la Conferencia de Ideas de Alltech ONE permanecerán abiertas, ofreciendo al público un acceso permanente a todo este contenido bajo demanda (incluyendo las conferencias magistrales y las sesiones foco) hasta abril de 2022.
Además, las personas inscritas en la Conferencia de Ideas de Alltech ONE podrán participar de forma virtual de muchas formas en el evento: ya sea a través del ONE FUNdraising Run (la carrera de 5 km virtual de ONE), el Centro de Ideas de Alltech o las clases de coctelería dirigidas por expertos. Asimismo, todos están invitados a compartir sus experiencias en ONE en las redes sociales utilizando el hashtag #ONEBigIdea.
Para más información sobre la Conferencia de Ideas de Alltech ONE y para inscribirse, se puede visitar one.alltech.com.
Alltech and the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) are pleased to announce Kallee Buchanan of Australia and Craig Lester of Canada as the recipients of the 2021 IFAJ–Alltech International Award for Leadership in Agricultural Journalism. The award recognizes excellence and leadership by young agricultural journalists and was presented today during the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference.
“IFAJ shares our commitment to supporting journalists who give a voice to the farmers and producers, the innovators and change-makers, the scientists and scholars all working toward a Planet of Plenty,” said Dr. Mark Lyons, president and CEO of Alltech. “On behalf of Alltech, I congratulate Kallee Buchanan and Craig Lester as the well-deserving recipients of the 2021 IFAJ–Alltech International Award for Leadership in Agricultural Journalism.”
This recognition honors Alltech’s late founder, Dr. Pearse Lyons, who was a passionate storyteller with a great respect for agricultural journalists. The award complements the Young Leader program that Alltech co-founded with IFAJ in 2005 in support of the mentorship and education of leaders who connect agriculture to a global audience. It’s also an endeavor that aligns with Alltech’s vision of Working Together for a Planet of PlentyTM, in which a world of abundance is made possible through the adoption of new technologies, better farm management practices and human ingenuity within agriculture.
“As producers throughout the food supply chain are implementing more sustainable solutions, we are in the midst of a new era in agriculture led by science, data-driven decision-making and a passionate dedication to farming with the future in mind,” said Dr. Mark Lyons. “Agricultural journalists have the ability to share these stories, and through our continued partnership with the IFAJ, we are proud to support these future leaders, who are passionate about connecting our industry to a global audience.”
Kallee Buchanan started her career at a regional newspaper in 2008 before joining the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 2009, where she has worked as a radio and digital journalist, presenter and producer, covering rural and regional issues. In 2010, she won a Queensland Media Award (Clarion) for Best Radio News Report, and in 2017 she won the radio and digital categories at the Queensland Rural Media Awards and was named the overall journalism winner. She went on to win both the Australian and the International Star Prize for Digital Media, and she won the Queensland radio category again in 2018. In 2019, she was highly commended in the Emergency Media and Public Affairs Awards for her coverage of the 2018 Central Queensland bushfires.
Buchanan joined the committee of the Rural Press Club of Queensland in 2016 and became its representative on the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists (ACAJ) in 2018, eventually becoming the secretary of the ACAJ in 2019 and its president in 2020. She is passionate about elevating the issues and industries of regional and rural people and supporting agricultural media communicators in that work. She is committed to developing and retaining new voices that reflect the true diversity of communities outside of the major city centers, as well as the contributions they make to a productive world.
Craig Lester loves connecting people, ideas and resources, and he believes that there is no better place to do that than in agriculture. As president of the Alberta Farm Writers’ Association, part of the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation, Lester serves in two key professional roles that are dedicated to sharing information and educating the community with local and industry information. He is a managing editor of 660 NEWS, an all-news radio station in Calgary, Alberta, and is the co-owner of Rural Roots Canada, an agriculture media production and distribution company. In his free time, he works on the family farm in Rolling Hills, Alberta.
Lester is also very active as a volunteer in the community, contributing his time to the Calgary Stampede, Alberta Young Speakers for Agriculture and Ronald McDonald House. He is also on the planning committee for the 2023 IFAJ World Congress, which will be held in Alberta.
With a passion for successful succession and empowering the next generation, Lester established an agricultural scholarship and travel bursary at his alma mater, Brooks Composite High School, to support a student pursuing either agricultural-related post-secondary education or an international in-person learning experience. He is an award-winning broadcast journalist and received a diploma in broadcast news from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.
“In challenging times like these, reliable journalism and information is vital for farmers,” said IFAJ president Lena Johansson of Sweden. “Alltech’s commitment to professional development for agricultural journalists to promote eminent leaders within our organization is much-appreciated and contributes to enhancing the quality of agricultural journalism — which, in the long run, benefits the entire agricultural sector.”
For more information about the IFAJ-Alltech International Award for Leadership in Agricultural Journalism, contact press@alltech.com.
-Ends-
Contact: press@alltech.com
Jenn Norrie
Communications Manager, North America and Europe
jnorrie@alltech.com; (403) 863-8547
Video download: Kallee Buchanan, Australia https://bcove.video/2R77y8V
Image download: https://photos.alltech.com/pf.tlx/baJbmZbnmi1n
Image caption: Kallee Buchanan of Australia is a recipient of the 2021 IFAJ-Alltech International Award for Leadership in Agricultural Journalism.
Video download: Craig Lester, Canada https://bcove.video/3okZPQD
Image download: https://photos.alltech.com/pf.tlx/DZhDIiD4RGHM
Image Caption: Craig Lester of Canada is a recipient of the 2021 IFAJ-Alltech International Award for Leadership in Agricultural Journalism.
Image download: https://photos.alltech.com/pf.tlx/vwvZcvXIhnod
Image Caption: Alltech is proud to partner with the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) to recognize excellence and leadership by young journalists with the IFAJ-Alltech International Award for Leadership in Agricultural Journalism.
About Alltech:
Founded in 1980 by Irish entrepreneur and scientist Dr. Pearse Lyons, Alltech delivers smarter, more sustainable solutions for agriculture. Our products improve the health and performance of plants and animals, resulting in better nutrition for consumers and a decreased environmental impact.
We are a global leader in the animal health industry, producing additives, premix supplements, feed and complete feed. Strengthened by more than 40 years of scientific research, we carry forward a legacy of innovation and a unique culture that views challenges through an entrepreneurial lens.
Our more than 5,000 talented team members worldwide share our vision for a Planet of Plenty™. We believe agriculture has the greatest potential to shape the future of our planet, but it will take all of us working together, led by science, technology and a shared will to make a difference.
Alltech is a private, family-owned company, which allows us to adapt quickly to our customers’ needs and maintain focus on advanced innovation. Headquartered just outside of Lexington, Kentucky, USA, Alltech has a strong presence in all regions of the world. For more information, visit alltech.com, or join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
About the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists:
The International Federation of Agricultural Journalists, founded in 1956, is comprised of 5,000 members in 53 countries. It is the only organization in the world dedicated to global agricultural journalism. Its three pillars are professional development, youth development and global outreach. IFAJ members embrace freedom of the press. http://www.ifaj.org
Alltech is proud to partner with the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) to recognize excellence and leadership by young journalists with the IFAJ-Alltech International Award for Leadership in Agricultural Journalism.
The Alltech ONE Ideas Conference launched virtually today to unite thought-leaders and changemakers for an exploration of the power of science, sustainability and storytelling. Now in its 37th year, Alltech’s flagship event continues to be an invaluable industry resource, with unmatched content and innovative ideas, inspiration and motivation from world-class speakers. Registrants from 99 countries have access to a virtual platform that includes on-demand tracks, streaming keynote presentations, live workshops and an interactive networking experience, allowing attendees to connect around the world.
“We are on the brink of a new beginning, and I don’t believe that is just a new beginning for Alltech. I think it’s a new beginning and a new golden era for agri-food, and it’s led by what we believe is a bold vision,” said Dr. Mark Lyons, president and CEO of Alltech, in his opening remarks. “We want to deliver smarter, more sustainable solutions for our customers and for all of agri-food.”
Anna Rosling Rönnlund, vice president and head of design and user experience at Gapminder and co-author of “Factfulness,” was one of the opening keynote speakers on Tuesday, June 22. Rönnlund designed the user interface of the famous animated bubble-chart tool Trendalyzer, which helps people better understand global development trends. The tool was eventually acquired by Google and is now used by millions of students across the world. Along with her Gapminder co-founders, Rönnlund co-wrote the book “Factfulness,” sharing insights on the ten instincts that distort our perspective of the world and prevent us from seeing the truth.
“A lot of things are actually improving, but we’re very bad at seeing these slow trends on a global level,” said Rönnlund. “We need to have a fact-based worldview, and we need to remember that we need to keep upgrading our worldview, because the world changes, and so has our facts about it.”
As a professional photographer, filmmaker and former photojournalist for National Geographic, Dewitt Jones has made a career of storytelling through images and has traveled the world on a mission to find the extraordinary in the ordinary. Through his compelling stories and captivating photography, Jones shared how changing your lens can change your life.
“These are turbulent times, and the waves of change seem to threaten our very survival. So, what will your vision allow you to see?” Jones asked during his keynote presentation. “Will you look out at a dim, half-colored world where dreams disappear in the distance — a world where goals don't even seem worth striving for? Or will your vision allow you to see a world still full of beauty and joy and possibility?”
The Alltech ONE Ideas Conference keynote sessions, on-demand tracks and Planet of Plenty live workshops launching this week include:
Tuesday, June 22
8:30 a.m. ET: Keynote Session
10:30 a.m. ET
11:00 a.m. ET: Planet of Plenty Live Workshops
Wednesday, June 23
9:00 a.m. ET: Keynote Session
11:00 a.m. ET: Planet of Plenty Live Workshops
Thursday, June 24
9:00 a.m. ET: Keynote Session
11:00 a.m. ET: Planet of Plenty Live Workshops
1:00 p.m. ET: Planet of Plenty Workshop with Shirzad Chamine
Over the course of the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference, more than 70 on-demand presentations will explore challenges and opportunities in aquaculture, beef, business, crop science, dairy, equine, health and wellness, pet, pig, and poultry sectors. Registration for the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference will remain open, offering attendees 24/7 access to all on-demand content, including keynote presentations and tracks, until April 2022.
Registrants can engage virtually in many ways during the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference, including the ONE FUNdraising Run, the Alltech Ideas Hub and expert-led mixology sessions. All are encouraged to share their experiences on social media with the hashtag #ONEbigidea. To learn more and to register for the Alltech ONE Ideas Conference, visit one.alltech.com.
The Alltech ONE Ideas Conference offers on-demand insights from leading experts in agriculture and beyond.
When he was 26 years old, Dewitt Jones walked into the headquarters of the famed National Geographic magazine as its newest photographer in what, amazingly, was his first professional photography job.
“I remember standing there in the lobby … surrounded by the most beautiful photographs I'd ever seen in my life,” recalled Jones in his keynote address at the 2021 Alltech ONE Ideas Conference. “How was I ever going to prove myself, (prove) that I was worthy of working there?”
Despite his fears, Jones did more than prove himself; his eye for detail and stunning images have made him one of the premier photojournalists in the world. He worked as a freelance photographer for National Geographic for 20 years, and his photography has also been featured in global advertising campaigns for such powerhouse clients as Canon and United Airlines.
And his talents don’t stop at still photography: As a filmmaker, Jones had garnered two nominations for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards before he turned 30 years old.
So, how did Jones overcome his fears and establish such an incredible portfolio of work? As he explained in his presentation, he believes that the key to success is following four steps that reveal the extraordinary in the ordinary and provide a fresh perspective on life:
“When I applied these four techniques, I made some incredible images,” Jones said. “I locked in those images by always beginning by celebrating what was best … and letting the rest fall away.”
“Vision without technique is blind,” Jones said. “It's fine to have a brilliant idea, but if you don't have the technique … to manifest it, you have nothing.”
As a photographer, for Jones, honing his technique meant taking thousands of photos in the quest to get the handful of images that would resonate most with readers.
“When I worked for (National) Geographic, the average article was shot in 400 rolls of film. That's over 14,000 images to get the 30 that go on an article,” Jones explained. “(But) I don't care how many shots it takes. We all know when those right answers come into focus … but you're not going to get (them) unless you're willing to press out on the edge of your own comfortable envelope to take the risk.
“It is not trespassing to go beyond your own boundaries,” he added.
Jones also emphasized the importance of focusing on perfecting your own technique, not on trying to be better than others or doing what everyone else is doing — a lesson he learned from Bob Gilka, who was the head of photography at National Geographic when Jones was hired.
“He said, ‘You know, Dewitt, the people who photograph for (this magazine) are the best in the world. And you're one of them now,’” Jones remembered. “‘You don't have to prove yourself … but by God, every day, you had better improve yourself. I want you to spend every day trying to be better than you were yesterday.’
“He changed the way I did everything from that day forward,” Jones said.
By focusing on improving our own techniques and strengths instead of worrying about how we measure up to others, Jones argued, we can free ourselves from our hang-ups.
“When we really are doing that improving, not proving, believing that there's more than one right answer (and) reframing obstacles into opportunities, that's when we'll begin to lose all our fear of mistakes or setbacks,” he said.
No matter what your career or passion, Jones said, your chances of achieving great success are slim if you don’t put yourself in a place of great potential. For Jones, that meant literally traveling to locations with the most potential for finding the perfect shot.
“If nature is going to open up multiple windows of opportunity, where do I have the best chance of finding them?” Jones would ask himself. “There are 1,000 ways to come at any challenge to find that extraordinary view.”
Jones recalled one particular photo assignment where things weren’t going exactly as he’d hoped — but by being open to the location’s great potential, as well as to advice from someone who knew the place well, Jones was able to get even better pictures than he’d anticipated.
While on location in Scotland to shoot a campaign for Dewar’s Scotch, the weather wasn’t what Jones had planned for — but a local fisherman advised him that if he came back the next day, he might see something extraordinary, albeit unexpected.
“He said, ‘You know, laddie, there was mist on the water this morning. That's unusual for this time of year.’ And I climbed all over it,” Jones recalled. “I want to be in the place of most potential. So, I'm out there two hours before dawn, and when the light starts coming up, I got the boats, and I got the fishermen. … I got my first right answer, (and) they just kept coming.”
Even if you do put yourself in the place of most potential, Jones argued, it won’t make a difference if you aren’t open to the possibilities and what the world has to offer.
“When the great photographer Minor White would go out to photograph, he would never say, ‘What will I take today?’” Jones recalled. “Rather, he would ask, ‘What will I be given today?’ And I would add: Will I be open enough to see it?”
For photographers, the possibilities are endless — but over the course of his career, Jones noticed that many people mistakenly believe that there’s only so much beauty to go around.
“Mother Nature never stood in front of a forest and said, ‘There is one great photograph hidden here. One photographer will find it, and the rest of you will be hopeless losers,’” Jones said. “No, nature says, ‘How many rolls you got, Dewitt? Bring it on! … I'll fill it up with beauty and possibility beyond your wildest imaginings, right down to my tiniest seed.’”
Along with being open to all of the possibilities, Jones argued that being willing to look for the next right answer instead of believing that there’s only one right answer is not only transformational — it is “the key to creativity.”
“So many things begin to change when you come at the world from that perspective,” Jones explained. “As you press on, looking for that next right answer, … you do so not in terror but comfortably knowing it's going to be there for you. And you really do begin to embrace change rather than fear it. You really do hit the day with a sense of possibility, not paralysis. And you just get more and more comfortable with reframing an obstacle into an opportunity.”
Jones saved his most important step for last, positing that how you see the world — and what you choose to focus on — will affect everything else in your life.
“It's your vision that's going to make you a success, because vision controls our perception — and our perception becomes our reality,” Jones said.
Jones began cultivating a vision of positivity when he was hired by National Geographic, who always encouraged him to focus his camera lens on the good instead of the bad.
“What they charged me with, every time they sent me out, was to celebrate what was right with the world,” Jones said. “I mean, why do you think we keep those silly yellow magazines? It's a national sacrilege to throw one away! Why? Because they celebrate what's right with the world.”
Jones acknowledged that it’s not always easy to find — or even look for — the positive, especially in the midst of overwhelming struggles, like the COVID-19 pandemic. But he still encourages everyone to try.
“I'm not going to deny that there's very real pain and suffering in the world,” Jones said. “But if I'm in love with life, I've got a lot more energy to face (it). By celebrating what's right, we find the energy to fix what's wrong. And (it’s) so important … to have a vision that will give us energy at a time when so many things are trying to take it away.”
Even when focusing on the good doesn’t come easily, Jones believes that we can become champions of finding the positive in the world the same way we become proficient in anything: practice, practice, practice.
“Unless you … make it a practice, it's not going to change your life,” Jones acknowledged. “This means that, every day, you have to consciously say, ‘I am going to celebrate what's right in my life.’”
So, how do you begin celebrating the good? In Jones’ opinion, it helps to tap into your passions — that is, things that “fill (your) cup”. This can be anything from sports to music to good conversations, and everything in between. It’s just a matter of finding it in your own life.
“You're going to have to go out and say …, ‘I just had an amazing interaction with my friends. I just saw the sunset. I just read a good book,’” Jones suggested. “Whatever it is that fills your cup up to where you overflow (and) you say, ‘These are things that make me glad to be alive.’”
By taking all four of these steps in our lives, Jones truly believes that we can change our perspective — and, ultimately, change the world.
“We can celebrate the best in every situation and every person every day,” Jones said. “We'll have the tools and the vision to face any challenge … while celebrating, with gratitude and with grace, all that we've been given. That perspective, that vision, it will change your life, as it has changed mine.”
Photojournalist, filmmaker and former National Geographic photographer Dewitt Jones delivered a keynote address on celebrating the good in the world at the 2021 Alltech ONE Ideas Conference.
