AWASH progress update: from research to implementation

This newsletter was originally shared on 17/01/2026 by AWASH. The original format can be found here. To subscribe and get future newsletters emailed to you, please share your details here.

Hi everyone, it's Naveeth! The past few months have been incredibly productive - we've completed our initial scoping research, delivered our first conference presentation, and started implementation of our pilot project. It’s exciting to be progressing from research to implementation!

Here's what we've learned so far, and what's coming next…

Completed scoping visits to 8 farms

The purpose of the scoping visits was to gain first-hand insight into day-to-day practices and the key challenges farmers face, so we could identify a high-impact intervention.

We initially planned to visit four to six farms. However, thanks to Kwaku, our aquaculture specialist, and his strong existing relationships with farmers, we were able to expand this to eight. In total, we visited six large fish farms (>100 metric tonnes of tilapia produced per year) and two medium-sized farms (50 to 100 metric tonnes per year).

This scoping work has been invaluable, giving us sufficient confidence to pilot egg disinfection as our first intervention. We’re currently writing a detailed scoping report that explains our findings and the selection process for this intervention, which we’ll share with you as soon as it’s ready.

Spoke at Aquaculture Ghana, a national aquaculture conference

We spoke at the Chamber of Aquaculture’s Aquaculture Ghana Conference, where we delivered a talk titled “Simple changes to reduce losses and increase your profit.” The presentation focused on fish welfare and water quality, with particular emphasis on stocking density.

We explained how high stocking densities negatively affect fish welfare and health, and how this, in turn, impacts growth rates, feed costs (more feed is needed for the same growth), and revenue (as stunted growth leads to lower sale prices).

Around 30–40 farmers attended the session. 16 completed entry surveys, giving us insight into their operations: half farm tilapia exclusively, while the remainder focus on catfish or a mix of species. 11 participants completed exit surveys, all of whom found the talk useful (82% very useful, 18% somewhat useful) and said they would recommend it to others. While this feedback is encouraging, it’s also possible that those who found the talk less useful chose not to complete the survey.

Overall, the conference was a valuable opportunity to raise our profile and meet key stakeholders in person, including farmers, feed manufacturers, equipment suppliers, and government officials. Continued engagement of this kind is central to our goal of becoming known as a knowledgeable and trusted organisation that collaborates closely with farmers and other local stakeholders.

Started implementation on our pilot project

We began implementing our pilot this month! Based on our scoping work, we have decided to pilot egg disinfection as our first intervention. This will be covered in much more detail in our forthcoming scoping report, but here’s a brief overview of why we’ve chosen this approach:

• Survival rates for juvenile fish are often much lower than for adult fish (around 45 - 65%, compared to 80 - 90% for adult fish). As a result, farmers typically produce far more juveniles than they expect to sell, knowing that many will not survive. By focusing on juvenile fish, we can potentially benefit a much larger number of animals than if we focused on adult fish.
• Juvenile fish are reared in tanks and ponds rather than cages on the lake, making conditions easier to control and outcomes more consistent and measurable.
• Juvenile fish are relatively neglected in existing welfare efforts, creating the potential for meaningful counterfactual impact and for generating new evidence that others can build on.
• Existing research suggests that egg disinfection can result in survival rates of up to 90+%.
• Some farms in Ghana already practise egg disinfection and generally report higher survival rates, providing local evidence of its efficacy. However, the practice is not widespread and has not been rigorously evaluated, creating an opportunity to generate reliable, locally relevant data that could drive wider adoption.

One large farm has agreed to pilot the intervention on a small section of its hatchery. This farm produces just under 1% of Ghana’s national tilapia aquaculture output, meaning there is significant potential for impact. Success at a farm of this size is also likely to carry social weight when engaging other farms, increasing the likelihood of them adopting the practice if successful.

Special thanks to one of Kwaku’s contacts, Dr Ankrah, a pharmacist, who very kindly prepared a batch of the disinfectant specifically for our pilot and provided it free of charge.

What we’ve learnt so far

Leveraging existing relationships

Kwaku’s existing relationships with farms were critical to the success of our scoping visits. Through his role at the Fisheries Commission, he regularly visits these farms and provides trusted advice, which made farmers more willing to host us and speak openly about their practices. Before Kwaku joined the project, I was only able to secure a single farm visit. This is something we’ll consider for future hiring decisions.

Setting realistic timelines

We initially hoped to begin implementing the pilot in December. In hindsight, allowing only two months for scoping, data analysis, intervention selection, and design was overly ambitious. We also underestimated how preoccupied the farmers would be during the busy Christmas period. Starting in the new year is more realistic and has allowed for a stronger launch.

Lessons from the conference

Key lessons from the conference included:

• Conference mechanics: Understanding how the event works and how to get the most value from it will be useful, particularly as this is an annual conference we plan to attend again.
• Stakeholder landscape: While we already knew the major farms, the conference helped us better understand other influential stakeholders beyond farmers.
• Effective communication: We learned what resonates, and what doesn’t, when presenting welfare-related topics to this audience, both from our own talk and from observing others.

Lessons from the initial scoping

There are additional lessons from the scoping work, which will be explored in more detail in the report. Broadly, these relate to:

• Key challenges farmers face and their existing practices
• Practical and logistical considerations for implementing projects on farms
• Factors that influence whether farmers reliably implement recommendations

Next steps

Continue implementing the intervention:

We’ll closely monitor and evaluate the impact of the pilot, and adjust our approach as needed.

We initially plan to run the pilot for three months. However, we’ll continuously assess results against our research questions and decide whether to extend it (to gather more data), stop it (if impact is negligible or negative), or expand it (if it proves effective).

Continue stakeholder engagement

We’ll continue visiting key stakeholders, including large farms we haven’t yet visited, as well as laboratories, universities, and other relevant institutions.

Continue researching alternative interventions

We’re doing this because:

• Several other potentially high-impact interventions exist, and we want to remain open to pivoting if evidence suggests we should.
• Some promising ideas only emerged during the scoping work, such as improving broodstock health and welfare, which we plan to explore further.
• If egg disinfection proves less impactful than expected, we want to be ready to pivot quickly.