STEM Garden Initiative

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STEM GARDEN iNITIATIVE

Climate education and tree planting

Teaching kids to plant nurtures their curiosity, responsibility, and love for nature while helping them understand the science behind growth and sustainability

Growing Future Farmers, Teaching Kids to Cultivate Food

We teach children how to grow their own food, nurturing a love for farming from an early age. By learning to plant, care for crops, and harvest, they develop essential skills for food sustainability. Our goal is to empower young minds with knowledge that helps prevent food scarcity. Through hands-on experiences, they become future leaders in agriculture and self-sufficiency

STEM GARDEN INITIATIVES

The SMART STEM-Garden Educational Foundation (STEM GARDEN INITIATIVE) is a project that helps children,women and other members of the communities grow their own food and become self-sufficient. We work with schools and communities to set up gardens, provide training on how to maintain them, and teach people about entrepreneurship and business skills..

We are determined to empowering marginalized individuals to address food insecurity and drive sustainable development through innovative STEM education and agricultural solutions.

Why Stem Garden Initiative

According to the 2022 National Bureau of Statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) , 66 million primary school age children go to school hungry every day on an empty stomach making it a global challenge.

In Nigeria, One in three of the whole population lives below the poverty line, among which children’s proportion surges to 75%. Many underserved communities lack access to fresh produce, contributing to childhood hunger and inadequate nutrition (Feeding America, 2023).

Our Programs

Discover exceptional STEM education and opportunities at STEM Garden Initiative

School and Back yard Gardens

Through our quarterly “Project 10:10:10” school visits, we visit 10 schools each quarter to guide learners on setting up school gardens. This initiative aims to address food insecurity, which affects school attendance and academic performance, ultimately helping to bridge the gap in education inequality.

We guide pupils on Climate education and Tree Planting

Through our Climate Club, we are equipping learners with the knowledge and skills to lead meaningful climate action. Students engage in tree planting, plastic waste management, and advocacy for environmental sustainability. To date, they have planted over 1000 trees and repurposed 700kg of plastic waste into learning materials. They have also developed eco-friendly alternatives such as jute bags to reduce single-use plastics. In 2023 and 2024, our students represented the school in the Global Interschool Earth Quest Climate Championship League across five countries and emerged First Runner-Up. We remain committed to raising future-focused environmental stewards through hands-on climate education.

Teachers Training

At the STEM Garden Initiative, we value the pivotal role teachers play in driving our mission. We invest in building their capacity to tackle food insecurity, advance climate education, and integrate STEM into school gardening. Our educators are key to embedding the STEM Garden model into school curricula. In collaboration with the Ogun State Education Secretary, we trained 56 teachers across Abeokuta South. We also partnered with Kids Who Farm (Philippines) to enhance teacher training globally. Through this partnership, 100 teachers were trained on Foodloop, Gardenator, and composting techniques.

Smart Garden & Green House Consultancy

We offer expert consultancy services to help individuals, schools, and organizations set up smart gardens, construct greenhouses, drip irrigation and composting systems. We also develop tailored curricula for integrating STEM activities into educational programs.

Our Services

We pair you with experts who will guide you through:

1. Setting up smart gardens and greenhouses

2. Implementing drip irrigation and composting systems

3. Integrating STEM activities into curricula

How To Support

Finance

You can support the initiative by monetary donations.

Lands

Donate land/ sites to enable us set up permanent sites to erect greenhouses houses for children’s educational excursions and continuous sustainability of our schools project

Resources & Equipment

Donate Resources like greenhouse equipments, garden tools, Seeds, nursery trees and Training materials

Trainings

Sponsor Teachers Training: we believe training teachers is a good way to continue to build a system that would guide our children in schools

Our Unique Value Point

What sets the STEM Garden Initiative apart is its innovative approach of integrating Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) activities with sustainable agriculture, providing a unique and holistic learning experience. By combining hands-on STEM education curriculum with sustainable agricultural practices, we aim to empower children with the skills and knowledge necessary to thrive in an ever-changing world.

Join Us as a STEM Garden Volunteer!

Are you passionate about shaping a greener and more sustainable future? Join us in inspiring young minds to embrace agro-business, sustainability, and climate action.

Our Achievements So Far

Teachers Trained

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Trees Planted

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Schools

Students Trained

Backyard Gardens

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Mr. Sanusi Dauda Head Teacher, Imo Methodist Pri. school, Oke Yeke

The STEM Garden exposes our learners to the Practical aspect of Agriculture making them Problem Solvers at Young Age.

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Mr. Ali Muhamed Education Secretary, Abeokuta South

The STEM Garden manual helped our teachers to improve classroom teaching

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Salako Qowiyat Idara Student, Imo Methodist Pri. School, Oke Yeke

I and my friend doesn't like missing school because of the STEM Garden Initiative and I have started my own backyard garden and already made #10,000 from the product.

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Mrs. Ali Parent

Through the free seeds provided ( Ewedu, Tete and Ila), we have grown our backyard garden and are enjoying the produce

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Mrs. Somefun Bukola Teacher, Imo Methodist Pri. School, Oke Yeke

The activities of the garden serve as living laboratories for teaching Basic science

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Kasali Miriam Olamide Student

Through the STEM Garden Initiative, I have learnt that Agriculture is not just meant for farmers alone, it is our responsibility to grow and eat healthy food.

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Lawal Hani Hanifah Olohunfemi Student

Participating in the STEM Garden Initiative is a big achievement for me because my eyes are opened to see the opportunities in the practical self owned sack farm my teacher introduced to us, now I can boast of planting to save my self from hunger and my community at large.

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Hassan Abdulrazak Student

In my school my agric teacher taught me how to plant in sack, we bought sacks and we put fertile sand in it and we planted in the sack. Planting in sack don't take space you can plant yam, beans, vegetables. that's how I know how to plant in sack and in my house. I want to say thank you teacher to my teacher and to STEM Garden Initiative.

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Augustina Ojochenemi Ahman Teacher

Before we started the school farm, many learners didn’t like coming to school. Some came late, and others didn’t come at all. But when we began the farming project, everything changed.
The children were excited to plant vegetables like tomatoes and maize. They came early to water the crops and take care of the farm. They were happy and proud to see the plants grow.
We used the farm in our lessons, measuring plants in math and writing about farming in English. Learning became fun and real.
Because of the farm, more learners now come to school every day. They enjoy learning and feel proud of their work. The farm has made our school a happy place

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Our Partners

WHAT WE DO

Our project helps children, women and youth in several ways.

It provides access to healthy and nutritious food, which is often scarce in low-income communities.
It helps to create jobs and income opportunities for community members, particularly women and youth.
It helps to promote education and skills development to children and youth particularly in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).