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The paper uses illustrations from rural India and Bangladesh to develop a critical analysis of practices and experiences of poverty often overlooked in development policies. It challenges the principle measurement, calculative rationality and static representation in anti-poverty interventions that present poverty as a 'problem' to be resolved. It draws on poststructuralist ideas to express poverty differently and shift from problem-solving to problematisation. Drawing on the concept of 'rhizome' it highlights the connectivity, heterogeneity and multiplicity of poverty. Examples from interviews and photo diaries illustrate manifold poverty as a combination of heterogeneous activities, objects and affects that complicate development ethics and challenge the logic of reason in existing policies. The paper explores improvisation, experimentation, hope and repetition as mechanisms for critically evaluating aquaculture-led development and attending to overlooked objects, uncertain outcomes and untold stories of disadvantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Poverty maps are an increasingly popular mode of visualizing the spatial dimension of poverty. They help guide priority-setting and target poverty-alleviation interventions. The utility of poverty maps can be enhanced by spatially disaggregating the underlying causes of poverty. One promising approach explored in this paper is the use of livelihood assets – natural, physical, human, social and financial – the building blocks of sustainable livelihoods. We illustrate the approach by mapping and contrasting poverty and livelihood assets within the Indian Indo-Gangetic Plains drawing on district-level indicators and livelihood asset-based principal components. The relatively low poverty incidence in the north-western plains is associated with an overall favorable livelihood asset base, particularly pronounced for natural and financial capitals. There is a marked gradient with poverty increasing eastwards, reflecting a similarly marked decline in livelihood assets. The overall unfavorable livelihood asset base in the mid-Gangetic Plains of Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh provides a particularly challenging spatial poverty trap. The maps and regional contrasts of poverty and livelihood assets provide a foundation for future research and development work and reiterate the need for cross-sectoral and inter-disciplinary approaches. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]