Cletos Mapiye is engaged as an Associate Professor in Meat Science at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Since 2018, he has also been serving as the Chair for the South African Research Chairs Initiative in Meat Science. Cletos has previously worked in Canada, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. His research explores the effects of nutrition and bioactive phytochemicals on production, shelf-life, eating quality, and health value of meat spanning the spectrum from commercial livestock production systems through small-scale to the complex subsistence systems. Cletos recently investigated the value of using fruit by-products, leaves and oilseeds from indigenous trees and invasive alien trees as alternative feed sources for ruminants. To date he has graduated over 25 postgraduate students and published 125 peer-reviewed journal articles. Cletos is a member of the South African Young Academy of Science and young affiliate of The World Academy of Science. He also serves as an associate editor for the Lipids journal and South African Journal of Animal Sciences. Cletos’ impactful contributions to research, development, and capacity building to improve food security and reduce poverty in the developing world earned him the 2020 Young African Researchers Award and the 2017 Young Scientists’ Prize in Agriculture and Food Security.