FEEDING THE WORLD WHILE
SAVING THE PLANET
For anyone who wants to know what happens when smallholder farming, regenerative agriculture and spiritual principles converge. A book filled with hope and a practical approach to transforming agriculture.
PRE ORDER COMING SOON
PUBLICATION: SEPTEMBER 20, 2026
WHOLE EARTH FARMING
SMALLHOLDERS AND THE GREAT REGENERATIVE TRANSFORMATION
In Whole Earth Farming, Hugh Locke introduces the one quarter of humanity hidden in plain sight: 475 million smallholder farming families who have quietly fed the world for generations while remaining almost entirely invisible. He makes the audacious claim that these same smallholders could soon be leading an agricultural revolution with the power to alter the course of life on our planet.
This unusual story line runs from the Tonight Show and fractals to Buckingham Palace and rubber farms in Thailand, from ancient traditional wisdom to artificial intelligence. Drawing on decades of work at the nexus of global affairs and grassroots agriculture — from chairing meetings of heads of state at the United Nations to sitting with farmers in the fields of Haiti — Hugh weaves together Indigenous wisdom, contemporary ecological science, and spiritual principles for agriculture drawn from the Bahá'í Faith. The result is a vision of regenerative farming that, if adopted by just half of the world's smallholders, could produce all the additional food the world needs by 2050 while simultaneously reducing the net impact of climate change.
Included is a unique collection of 21 stories from 18 countries of farmers sharing their regenerative journeys. The book is written for anyone interested in food, farming, climate, justice, or the future of life on this planet, Whole Earth Farming is both a compelling manifesto for urgently needed transformation and a practical roadmap for making it real.
FOREWORD
Roy Steiner, Senior Vice President, Food Initiative,
The Rockefeller Foundation
INTRODUCTION
Rainn Wilson, Emmy Award-nominated actor, author of the New York Times bestselling Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution
Unlocking the potential of smallholder farmers to
lead an agricultural revolution with the power to alter the course of life on our planet.
It’s been an honor to work with and learn from smallholder farmers around the world, and to see up close the ways they restore their land, sustain their communities, and build a better future for us all. Hugh Locke’s efforts with the Smallholder Farmers Alliance have been nothing short of extraordinary – and in Whole Earth Farming, he shares the lessons he’s learned with both rigorous evidence and genuine humanity.
— President Bill Clinton
Every food crisis I have seen, from Haiti to Ukraine to Gaza, has taught me the same lesson: the people who hold communities together are the ones who feed them. Hugh’s book builds on that truth with a clear and urgent call to action. Farmers, as the bridge between people and the land we inhabit, have the power not only to produce food, but to strengthen local economies and nourish our shared future. I have seen enough to know this is not just an idea. It is already happening. Read this book. Then do something.
—
ACCOLADES
José Andrés, Chef, Humanitarian, and Founder of the Global Food Institute at George Washington University
The earth is asking for it. Smallholders are ready.
The question is whether the rest of us
will rise to support them.
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PLACE YOUR ORDER NOW FOR FULFILLMENT ON SEPTEMBER 20, 2026
COMING SOON
Whole Earth Farming includes 21 stories about the farmers, ranchers, cooperatives, NGOs, and corporations (plus one comic book character) that reflect the growing worldwide regenerative movement as it crosses borders, cultures, faith traditions and farming scales. Read their stories in the book, but in the meantime visit their websites:
STORIES FROM THE REGENERATIVE FRONTIER
98 Ranch – Canada
Action for Social Advancement – India
Aga Khan Foundation – Kenya
Acces la Pământ Pentru Agroecologie – Romania
Big Tree Farms – Indonesia
Blue Hill at Stone Barns – USA
Ecological Land Cooperative – United Kingdom
Fairtrasa – Ecuador
Farm One Forty – Canada
FUNDAEC – Colombia
Kheyti – India
Mad Agriculture – USA
Mulloon Institute – Australia
One Acre Fund – Rwanda
Quinn Institute – USA
Regeneration Canada – Canada
Sustainable Harvest International – Central America
Tanama – Haiti
Wanakaset Symbiosis Network – Thailand
Wij.land – The Netherlands
World Vision – Ethiopia
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hugh Locke has spent his career working at the nexus of environmental conservation, international development, humanitarian service and interfaith collaboration. Throughout, he has been drawn by the interplay between spiritual principles and the movements striving to improve the human condition. Central to his worldview is the understanding of our planet as a unified, interconnected system, a perspective given further dimension by membership in the Bahá’í Faith. Since co-founding the Smallholder Farmers Alliance in Haiti in 2010, he has directed this range of experience toward smallholder agriculture, becoming a recognized advocate for regenerative farming and smallholder farmer empowerment. He has worked directly with farmers in the fields of Haiti and has supported a wide range of NGOs, philanthropists and institutions in targeting resources toward smallholder regenerative agriculture globally. He currently leads a program using artificial intelligence to make smallholder regenerative field research freely available and translated into multiple languages. He continues a very active role in championing the legacy of his mentor, the forester and global conservationist Richard St. Barbe Baker, and ensuring that the lessons of St. Barbe's lifetime of work remain a living force in how we care for our planet's forests. Hugh is president of the Impact Farming Foundation and serves on the board of the global reforestation nonprofit One Tree Planted. He has published regularly on BahaiTeachings.org.
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