About us
Who we are
We are STEM Garden Initiative
The SMART STEM-Garden Educational Foundation, known as STEM Garden Initiative, helps children, women and whole communities grow their own food and stand on their own feet.
Mary Ameh founded it in 2023 as a Be the Change project during her time as a 2022 Teach For Nigeria Fellow. She saw that children in underserved communities were already behind in school, and hunger made it worse. She built a team of young people who wanted to do something about it. Together they have reached more than 10,000 children in 96 schools across Ogun, Lagos and Benue States.
We work with schools and communities to set up gardens, train people to look after them, and teach entrepreneurship and business skills so the gardens pay for themselves.
Healthy food
Fresh, nutritious food where it is scarce, grown by the people who eat it.
Jobs and income
Work and earnings for community members, especially women and young people.
STEM skills
Science, technology, engineering and maths learned with soil, water and seeds.
Our team
The people behind the gardens
A small team of young people who wanted to make a difference runs our school visits, trainings and community projects, with volunteers working beside them.
Stem Garden Team
Team member
Stem Garden Team
Team memberWhat guides us
Vision, mission and values
Our vision
A Nigeria where children, youth and women thrive through resilient food systems, STEM education and community-led development.
Our mission
To end food insecurity and education inequity across Nigeria by giving communities climate-smart agriculture, STEM programs and sustainable livelihoods.
Our core values
Equity and inclusion
Every learner deserves the chance to reach their full potential.
Sustainability
We look after the planet our children will inherit.
Collaboration
We are stronger together.
Innovation
We try new ways to solve old problems.
Impact
We judge our work by the difference it makes.
Our story so far
How we have grown
2022
A Fellow sees the gap
Mary Ameh joins Teach For Nigeria and sees how hunger holds her pupils back.
2023
The first gardens
STEM Garden Initiative starts as her Be the Change project. Our Green Gurus place first runner-up at Earth Quest.
2024
Earth Quest again
Our learners take first runner-up again in the Global Interschool Earth Quest Climate Championship, across five countries.
Now
96 schools
Across Ogun, Lagos and Benue: over 10,000 learners reached, 286 teachers trained and more than 100 women growing food at home.
Our impact so far
What changes when a school has a garden
Better academic performance
0
%
Higher school attendance
0
%
Schools reached
0
Learners reached
0
+
Women with backyard gardens
0
+
Trees planted
0
+
Why it works
What makes us different
We put STEM activities and sustainable farming into one hands-on curriculum.
A pupil who builds a compost bin learns chemistry. A pupil who spaces seedlings learns maths. A pupil who sells a harvest learns business. Children leave with food, skills and the confidence to handle a world that keeps changing.
See our programs
Who we work with
Our partners
