 Welcome to the International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya. Hello, I am Wihaki, a communications officer at ILRI, where we host 10 international institutions working on all aspects of food systems in the continent. This campus is a world-class research facility. Completed lab testing and research facilities used to do lots of cool science that is helping improve food security in Africa. Here we improve crops and livestock breeds and develop new vaccines for livestock. Let's go on a tour. I want to introduce you to Catherine, a molecular breeder and a plant scientist. Thank you, Wihaki. Welcome to our research facilities, where we use biosciences to address some of the key agricultural constraints and foster the next generation of African scientists. The facilities we have here allow scientists from across the continent to use science tools to solve some of the key agricultural challenges facing crop and livestock production today. The facilities we have here allow us to carry out food science and nutrition analysis for assessment of nutritional quality. We combine nutrition analysis, plant breeding and food processing to develop nutritious foods for those who need them the most. Let me introduce you to one of our young next generation scientists, Mokani Moyo. Hi, my name is Mokani Moyo. I'm a food chemist at the International Potato Center's Food and Nutritional Evaluation Laboratory here at the Elri campus. We evaluate the nutritional and food safety aspects of different crops and food products. Welcome. Thank you. Like this sweet potato? Yes, this is an orange-fleshed sweet potato, very high in vitamin A content. What we do here is analyze the exact amounts of vitamin A in different orange-fleshed sweet potato varieties. But why is vitamin A important? Malnutrition is a big challenge globally, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where almost 50% of children under five years of age are affected by preventable blindness and childhood stunting due to lack of vitamin A in their diets. So this orange-fleshed sweet potato is part of the solution. How cool is that? I love science. Now let's visit JB in one of the DNA sequencing labs. How do you train Mokani Moyo in bioinformatics? Is that true? Yes, that is. You know having good equipment like this goes hand in hand with having the human capacity to operate it and to innovate with it. So that's why we are very proud at Elri that we are training the next generation of African scientists. We are equipping them with the tools to tackle the research questions of the day. That's fascinating. Now let's meet some other scientists working on animal diseases. Bernard, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and how animal and human health is linked? Thanks, Mihaki. My name is Bernard Bet. I work here at Elri as a scientist. So one of Elri's key research areas is that on the interaction between animals, people and environment, what we call one health. We have been using this approach to study global health challenges like COVID. This is quite important in Africa where a majority of the people derive their livelihoods income from the environment. And so that enhances this interaction which we are talking about. And hence enhances this transfer from animals to people. This is Sam. Sam, tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do here. I'm Mihaki. My name is Sam Molo Yola. I'm a senior scientist here at Elri. I specialize in molecular biology and genomics. We work on a number of diseases. So these diseases are diseases that affect African livestock. And these livestock are crucial for the food security and livelihood in Africa. So at the moment what is going on here is that the people are testing COVID-19. When COVID-19 struck, the government of Kenya asked Elri to support with the disease testing. And because we have the facilities and the expertise, we were able to transform part of our lab to be testing COVID-19. These are just a few examples of what we are doing here at the Elri campus. A lab may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the food that you have on your plate. But these research and testing facilities help ensure that food is farmed sustainably, is safe to eat and is nutritious. These labs make it possible for us to do this in Africa. Thank you for joining me on this tour. Find out how cool science is helping improve food systems on our website www.elri.org.