Book excerpt: An estimated 1.2 billion people live on less than one dollar a day, and recent estimates indicate that over 850 million people lack sufficient food for an active healthy life, mostly in rural areas. This FAO report examines the links between agriculture, trade and poverty and considers how international agricultural trade and trade liberalisation affect the world's poor and food-insecure. Topics discussed include: trends and patterns in international agricultural trade, including trade in the least developed countries and within regions, and the role of supermarkets; policy issues including domestic support, export competition and market access; macroeconomic impacts of agricultural trade reforms for poverty reduction and pro-poor development objectives; food insecurity and trade liberalisation measures. The report recommends a twin-track approach which seeks to invest in human capital, institutions and infrastructure to enable the poor to take advantage of trade-related opportunities, while establishing safety nets to protect vulnerable members of society. This publication contains a mini CD-ROM of the "FAO Statistical Yearbook 2004 Vol. 1/1" in Arabic, Chinese, English, French and Spanish.