For farmers, knowing exactly when to water a crop, how much it needs, and whether changing conditions put a harvest at risk can make all the difference. But as climate change brings more unpredictable rainfall, extreme heat, and other shocks to the world’s food systems, making those decisions can increasingly become a guessing game.

Luckily, some are hard at work removing that guesswork altogether. Based in Nigeria, Stephanie Meltus is the founder of Stevora AgriSystems  and co-founder of Green Eden Farms, an agribusiness leveraging ScareGrow technology to deliver real-time data and insights to farmers. Armed with intel to better understand what’s happening on their land, farmers can make better decisions, improve their yields, and build more resilient, climate-smart farming systems. On top of all that, Meltus is also the Country Director of Smartel Agritech, a startup that uses technologies such as hydroponics and soilless systems to help farmers protect their harvests in arid regions.

But that’s not all. She’s also part of a growing movement of young people demanding a bigger role in shaping the future of food and farming. In 2023, Meltus was selected as one of the winners of the YouthADAPT Solutions Challenge, an initiative supported by the Africa Climate Change Fund. She also joined the Ban Ki-moon Foundation’s latest cohort of Youth AgriChampions, uniting young, grassroots agricultural advocates around the world to learn from each other. As if that wasn’t enough, she also happens to be a Doctor of Pharmacy student at the University of Jos. 

It seems there’s little Meltus won’t take on. Global Citizen spoke with her to learn what drives her, how she juggles it all, and how young people are already helping build the future of the world’s food systems.

1. Let’s start at the beginning: what first drew you to the world of agriculture? Can you walk us through the different organizations you’re part of — Stevora Agrisystems, Green Eden Farms, and Smartel Agritech — and what inspired you to build and contribute to each of them?

The first time I grew food, I remember feeling so proud. Staring at my five, almost six corn ridges with Beulah, my first pet, who had somehow gone from a puppy to almost half my height. I think that was when I first understood that agriculture was one of the many things I would help build.

Today, my work across Stevora Agrisystems, Green Eden Farms, and my time contributing to Smartel Agritech has grown from that same conviction: there is no growth without the right conditions, passion, teams, and vision. For a nation whose population continues to rise, and whose people are spread across continents, I believe we have to think differently about how we produce food, build agricultural businesses, and create opportunities around food systems.

2. Your work uses tools like sensors, real-time data, and AI to help farmers make decisions. For someone who has never set foot on a farm, how does access to that kind of technology actually make a difference in a farmer’s day-to-day life?

Technology, when used properly, turns information into better decisions. A farmer can know what is happening in their soil, understand changing weather conditions, identify potential crop problems earlier, and use water, inputs, and other resources more precisely.

In practical terms, that translates to increased yields, lower production costs, reduced pre- and post-harvest losses, and healthier food, while also creating jobs and supporting wider economic growth. For me, the goal is never technology for technology’s sake, but making farming work better for the person actually growing the food.

3. Alongside all of this, you’re also a Doctor of Pharmacy student. How do you juggle these different roles, and what connects your interests in pharmaceutical sciences, agriculture, and innovation?

I have been able to balance them because I don’t see these parts of myself as separate characters. My understanding of agriculture is influenced by my understanding of science, including the chemistry and biology of nature, while pharmaceutical sciences have taught me to think about what happens inside the human body and how systems interact.

That perspective helps me approach agricultural innovation from a human-centered place, understanding the environment, understanding life processes, and then asking how we can create solutions that genuinely improve people’s lives. In many ways, both fields have taught me the same thing: small processes can have very significant consequences.

4. Farmers are increasingly dealing with unpredictable rainfall, extreme heat, and other effects of climate change. What are you hearing and seeing from smallholder farmers in Nigeria about how these changes are impacting their lives and livelihoods?

One of the first things I notice is the panic that comes with uncertainty. Farmers are increasingly having to respond to conditions that can feel like an enemy they cannot predict or fully understand, and many have very few mechanisms to cushion the financial risk when things go wrong.

Through my work with farmers and communities, I have seen that this uncertainty can also make people more open to exploring new technology and more sustainable ways of producing food. The challenge is making sure those solutions are accessible, practical, and supported by the financing, knowledge, and support farmers need to adopt them.

5. Looking ahead, what change would you most like to see in Nigeria’s agricultural sector over the next five or ten years — and what gives you hope that we can get there?

I would like to see an agricultural ecosystem built to last. Companies that are here for the long term, factories that don’t close down, financial institutions that understand how to de-risk agricultural lending at the grassroots, and agricultural insurance systems that actually help farmers manage uncertainty. Agriculture cannot become more productive and resilient if farmers carry every risk alone. 

What gives me hope is that we are already seeing young people, businesses, financial institutions, and other stakeholders begin to approach agriculture as an economic system that can be redesigned, rather than simply a sector that needs more farmers.

6. You recently took part in the Ban Ki-moon Foundation’sYouth AgriChampions Program and helped develop a demand paper reflecting young people’s priorities for the future of agriculture.

Was there a particular experience from your own work that helped shape that paper, and why do you believe articulating these demands matters for young farmers like you?

Over the last year, I have spent much of my time in spaces where I was educating people about alternative agricultural practices and encouraging a shift from what is merely conventional and familiar toward what actually works and produces better results.

That experience changed something in me. I began to move from seeing myself simply as a beneficiary, or even a victim, of decisions being made within the food system in my region to seeing myself as a stakeholder with a responsibility to participate in shaping those decisions.

Articulating young people’s demands matters because we are not just asking to be included in the future of agriculture; we are already building it, and our experiences should inform the systems we will inherit.

7. You’re part of a generation of young Africans developing new solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing food systems. What do you think young people bring to agriculture that may have been missing from the conversation before?

I would have led with “fresh eyes!” but I don’t think that’s what is missing. What I think young people bring is the promise of growth.

Our biological age may actually be one of our greatest assets. With the guidance and wisdom of older generations, we have the advantage of time to test solutions, learn from what doesn’t work, improve what does, and stay with the problems long enough to see meaningful change.

We are not simply bringing new ideas into agriculture. We have the opportunity to grow alongside those ideas and evolve them for the future.