STEM Agriculture Key to Food Security, Youth Employment – Expert

By Tosin Clegg

Elizabeth Ogar, an experienced curriculum development expert, has emphasized that STEM-integrated agricultural education is key to addressing Nigeria’s food security and youth employment challenges.

She made this assertion in a media statement recently, highlighting the urgent need to modernize agricultural education with STEM-integrated frameworks that equip students with analytical, problem-solving, and technical skills for today’s agricultural economy.

According to Ogar, the current gap in agricultural education stems from a structural problem: many teachers were not originally trained to teach agriculture as an integrated STEM discipline. “They are often expected to ‘add STEM’ to their instruction without receiving the tools, models, or professional preparation needed to implement it effectively,” she explained.

She noted in her statement that across the world, agriculture has become increasingly dependent on science, engineering, and technology, from precision farming and biotechnology to climate-smart systems and data-driven decision-making.

Yet many agricultural education programs still rely on outdated instructional approaches, leaving students unprepared for the complexity of modern food systems.

Ogar’s work focuses on developing experiential, STEM-integrated instructional models that enable educators to teach agriculture through applied scientific reasoning, systems thinking, and real-world problem-solving.

One example is the use of project-based instructional modules in which students investigate real agricultural challenges, such as environmental impacts on crops or sustainability trade-offs in food systems; using ice, hot water and room temperature water to teach students about climatic conditions and their impacts on plants and animals.

“Students collect and interpret data, discuss system constraints, and propose solutions. The outcome is not only improved engagement but also deeper learning and a clearer understanding of agriculture as a modern profession,” she said in her statement.

She asserts that students exposed to experiential, STEM-integrated agriculture are more likely to develop skills that align with emerging labor market demands: analytical thinking, collaboration, decision-making under uncertainty, and the ability to interpret scientific and technical information.

Importantly, Ogar’s models are designed to be scalable, providing structured pathways for integrating STEM into agriculture instruction in ways that are realistic for classrooms and training programs, rather than requiring educators to become STEM specialists overnight.

“For policymakers, educators, and industry stakeholders, the message is clear: STEM integration in agricultural education is not optional. It is a workforce strategy,” Ogar stated. “If education systems continue teaching agriculture in ways disconnected from STEM realities, the result will be a growing mismatch between what graduates know and what the modern agricultural economy requires.”

Ogar is a seasoned curriculum developer specializing in STEM-integrated agricultural education and experiential learning frameworks for workforce development.