An estimated 1.2 billion people live on less than 1 dollar a day and the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) most recent estimates indicate that 852 million people lack sufficient food for an active and healthy life. A majority of world’s poor and hungry people live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Agriculture is affected by trade and therefore, it affects the livelihoods and food security of the world’s most vulnerable people. The debate over the role of trade in economic growth and poverty reduction has a long history. The State of Food and Agriculture 2005 examines the linkages among agriculture, trade and poverty and queries whether international agricultural trade and the reforms is able to help overcome extreme poverty and hunger. It highlights common lessons, insights, issues that are both resolved and unresolved, and focuses more on how trade and poverty linkages can be best used to enhance food security, address inequality and improve overall economic growth.