Use of Antibiotic Alternatives in Nepal: A Strategy for Sustainable Animal Nutrition

Acharya, Arjun and Pandey, Utshav (2026) Use of Antibiotic Alternatives in Nepal: A Strategy for Sustainable Animal Nutrition. World's Veterinary Journal. 660 - 670. ISSN 23224568

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Abstract

The routine use of antibiotics in animal nutrition has historically improved growth and productivity. However, the continued and often indiscriminate use of these compounds has accelerated the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), posing serious risks to animal health, food safety, and public health. Nearly three-quarters of antimicrobials are consumed by livestock, allowing resistant pathogens to cross animal, human, and environmental boundaries and undermining the concept of One Health. The present study aimed to assess sustainable feed-based alternatives to antibiotics and their effectiveness in enhancing animal health in the Nepalese context. Based on global evidence and national experiences, the review synthesizes the roles of probiotics, prebiotics, phytobiotics, organic acids, enzymes, precision feeding, and complementary management practices in maintaining animal performance while reducing reliance on antibiotics. Nepal presents both urgency and opportunity for this transition, as livestock production remains largely smallholder-based, regulatory enforcement is uneven, and antimicrobial residues continue to be detected in animal-derived foods. At the same time, increasing awareness, ethno-veterinary knowledge, emerging feed innovations, and recent policy commitments under the national AMR action framework signal positive momentum. The review suggests that replacing antibiotics with alternatives should not be viewed as a simple substitution but rather as a system-level transformation integrating nutrition, biosecurity, vaccination, farmer capacity building, and governance within a One Health framework. Strengthening locally adaptable, cost-effective solutions through field-based research and extension will be critical for sustaining productivity while contributing to national and global efforts to mitigate AMR. © The Author(s) 2026. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Antimicrobial resistance; Feed additive; One Health; Sustainable livestock production
Subjects:	S Agriculture > SF Animal culture
Divisions:	World's Veterinary Journal (WVJ)
Page Range:	660 - 670
Journal or Publication Title:	World's Veterinary Journal
Journal Index:	Scopus
Volume:	16
Number:	2
Publisher:	Scienceline Publication
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.54203/scil.2026.wvj63
ISSN:	23224568
Depositing User:	Dr. Alireza Sadeghi
URI:	https://eprints.science-line.com/id/eprint/1721

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