Evaluating Costs and Benefits of Prophylactic Health Products and Novel Alternatives on Smallholder Aquaculture Farmers In Asia and Africa (IMAQulate)

Smallholder fish farmers across Asia and Africa are buying vast quantities of untested probiotic products to keep their stocks alive, with no reliable data on whether these products work or are worth the cost. This matters because the global surge in seafood demand is pushing small-scale aquaculture toward intensification, yet the same farms now face new restrictions on antibiotic use. In response, a poorly regulated market for prophylactic health products—prebiotics, probiotics, and similar additives—has exploded. Farmers have no independent evidence to judge which products actually improve fish survival or growth, and the financial risk of ineffective treatments falls hardest on those with the least margin for error. The project will conduct the first systematic cost-benefit analysis of these products across multiple farmed species and production systems in Asia and Africa. It will also test whether novel, low-cost alternatives—such as improved water management or simple feed additives—can achieve better health outcomes at lower cost. If successful, the research could give smallholder farmers a practical, evidence-based toolkit for managing disease without antibiotics, reducing both economic losses and the risk of antimicrobial resistance spreading through food supply chains.