Italy: Sicily now grows mangoes and bananas at the foot of Mount Etna

Avocados, mangoes, bananas, guavas and passion fruit... welcome to Sicily! At the foot of Etna, everything grows, now including exotic fruits, due to global warming. The setting is more akin to the tropics than to Europe: the fields of mango and avocado trees, separated by rows of palm trees, extend as far as the eye can see between the majestic silhouette of the volcano and the blue waters of the Mediterranean. “Over the past ten years, a real sector has been born [...] and which gives us a lot of satisfaction, for example being able to work ten or eleven months out of twelve”, welcomes Andrea Passanisi, president of the Coldiretti farmers' union in Catania, the second largest city in Sicily. It was during a trip to Brazil in the 2000s that the idea came to this vibrant 39-year-old Sicilian to grow exotic fruits at home in Sicily, thanks to the similarities between the two climates. Freshly graduated in law, this native of Catania rolled up his sleeves and planted his first ...