Aerial view of Tropo Farms tilapia ponds on the shore of Lake Volta, Ghana.
Photo: Tropo Farms
Tropo Farms, Ghana’s largest tilapia producer, has joined forces with UK aquaculture microbiome analysis firm Esox Biologics and the State University of Londrina in Brazil on a project that, according to the consortium, could improve tilapia disease monitoring and thus strengthen food security in Ghana.
"Traditional pathogen detection tools identify a single pathogen at a time, with costs scaling quickly with each pathogen screened for," Esox Biologics explained via a LinkedIn announcement.
"By analysing the total microbiome with metagenomics, rather than targeting individual pathogens, our consortium aims to establish a metagenomics assay specifically for tilapia farms, so that producers can identify all tilapia pathogens from a single sample of water," the company said. "An affordable alternative to targeted pathogen detection would support tilapia aquaculture in Ghana by helping to reduce infectious disease outbreaks, improve farm yields, all while reducing farm operational costs."
Esox Biologics, which recently won ‘Best New Start Up’ at the UK's Aquaculture Awards 2025, also said that training and education in microbiome science are planned as part of the project.
Tilapia accounts for 9% of global aquaculture production and is seen as a sustainable and affordable protein source, with Africa identified as a key growth region. Despite representing more than 18% of the global population, the continent produces only 2.5% of the world’s aquaculture output.
Francisco Murillo, CEO of Tropo Farms, said his company views pathogen detection as an important part of sustainable growth. “The FAO estimates that Africa must increase aquaculture production by 74% by 2050 to maintain current consumption per capita."
"We believe focusing on fish welfare will increase our production performance, which is why we’re excited to join this consortium and help to develop a tool that will improve tilapia welfare by enhancing our pathogen detection efforts," Murillo added.
The project, Microbiome monitoring to enhance Ghanaian tilapia farming, is funded through an Innovation Award by Innovate UK and supported by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).