Avocados, mangos, bananas and passion fruit -- a wealth of exotic produce is growing under the shadow of Sicily's Mount Etna, as the Italian island's farmers adapt to global warming. In a setting more akin to the Tropics than Europe, fields of mango and avocado trees, punctuated by palm trees, stretch out between the volcano and the glistening Mediterranean Sea.
"Over the past decade, a whole new sector has emerged," said Andrea Passanisi, an avocado farmer and head of the agricultural organisation Coldiretti in Catania, Sicily's second-largest city. It was during a visit to Brazil in the 2000s that Passanisi noted how similar the climate was to Sicily -- which is best known for oranges and lemons -- and thought about growing exotic fruits back home.
