Production without medicalisation: Risk practices and disease in Bangladesh aquaculture

Summary

This mixed-methods study of 300 'missing middle' shrimp and prawn farmers in Bangladesh reveals that formal biosecurity and disease control interventions do not operate in a socio-economic vacuum. Rather than straightforwardly improving outcomes, a technical programme introducing disease-free seed paradoxically exposed farmers to greater risks by driving unsustainable restocking practices, as farmers offset disease and livelihood risks through frequent pond restocking. The analysis argues that vernacular farming practices should be recognised as assets rather than barriers to disease management, and that value chain and broader livelihood risks warrant equal attention in programme design.

Regional applicability

Whilst this study is geographically specific to Bangladesh, its findings challenge the transferability assumption underlying many international biosecurity and disease control programmes promoted in low-income agricultural settings. United Kingdom aquaculture policy and development assistance programmes should consider analogous socio-economic drivers of farmer behaviour when designing disease management interventions in recipient countries, rather than assuming technical solutions will be adopted as intended.

Key measures

Farmer adoption and adaptation of disease-free seed programmes; restocking frequency and patterns; livelihood risk offsetting behaviours; socio-economic and ecological conditions affecting disease management

Outcomes reported

The study examined how farmers' disease and livelihood risk management practices interact with formal biosecurity interventions in shrimp and prawn farming. It demonstrated that a technical programme promoting disease-free seed had unintended consequences, including increased farmer restocking behaviour and exposure to more intense risks.

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