For the coffee-growing result to be of a certain quality, very specific conditions are required. It is not just the temperature, but also other factors such as humidity and the altitude of the fields. When conditions are right, coffees like Geisha sell for $10,005 a kilo. The problem is that conditions are changing, and the culprit is the same: climate change.

This is something that affects the main coffee growing regions, but it also allows others who have not traditionally been pioneers because of their coffee plantations to come into this sector. An example of this is the coffee plantations in Sicily, where we are already starting to see tropical plants.

Coffee Made in Italy

It is important for every country to have resources and raw materials at hand. The less you have to import, the better, and in the case of food, the fewer miles the product has traveled and the fresher it is, the better its properties, the better its taste and the cheaper it will be. At least in theory, the latter. But there are also countries known for their products grown thousands of kilometers away from their borders.

Belgium with chocolate is an example, as is Italy with coffee. When we think of coffee, words like: espresso, Mocha, cappuccino, latte anyone macchiato They are on our minds. There are also desserts like tiramisu where coffee plays a leading role. But despite all this coffee tradition, there is no coffee zero kilometer in Italy.

A few years ago, the limit of global warming was set at 1.5 degrees Celsius. Last year, we could already see what happens when this red line is crossed, and in the medium term, what could cause this global temperature increase is the existence of tropicalized areas.

As for coffee, yes, coffee can be grown outside the ‘Coffee Belt’. For example, in Europe there are small plantations in the Azores or the Canary Islands. In the United States, coffee is grown in Hawaii and California, as well as trials in Florida, and progress is being made in Australia. And this is achieved at ridiculous altitudes.

If the best coffees require altitudes above a thousand meters above sea level, in California this is provided at altitudes of 180 meters. And in Australia between 15 and 900 meters. These are climates that can offer suitable conditions throughout the year due to being subtropical or in some cases directly tropical.

Sicily is in this transitional climate, but the problem is the Mediterranean. The Italian island’s climate is strongly influenced by this sea, causing hot and dry summers and mild and humid winters. Nevertheless, some attempts were made to grow coffee in Palermo at the beginning of the 20th century.

Rosario Schicchi is the director of the Botanical Garden of Palermo and explains that “the first attempt to grow coffee outdoors was made by Antonino Borzì, director of the Botanical Garden of Palermo, and Vincenzo Riccobono, head gardener, who planted 25 coffee seedlings in 1905.” They failed due to low winter temperatures. They made another attempt in 1911 but frost destroyed the plantation.

They let the idea lie fallow for a while, until some adaptable Arabica plants were planted in 1940. And that’s where the Morettino family comes in. Based in Palermo, the family opened a coffee roasting factory in 1920, but as generations passed, they wanted to grow their own coffee, not just roast the raw coffee they received according to their own criteria.

So in 1990 they planted sixty Arabica plants that had been born in the Palermo Botanical Garden. They were planted at about 350 meters above sea level and failed in the first years. But in 2018 something changed: 30 kilos of coffee were produced in 66 factories. This is not only something that has been maintained over the years, but also something that has been increasing as the plants adapt to the climate and grow outside of greenhouses.

As the Morettinos themselves explain, “The most incredible thing is that the plants grow outdoors, without the help of greenhouses or pesticides. It is completely organic and could be a new beginning for us.” Adriano Cafiso, who collaborates with those who have toured Morettino’s plantations in South America and Africa, comments: “It is clear that the climate emergency and the resulting increase in temperatures have played a decisive role in the flowering of the plants in Sicily.”

Currently, the Palermo Botanical Garden and the Morettino monastery are collaborating on a pilot project to grow the plant, and the family explains: “Our dream is to create 0 kilometer coffee and to expand coffee production to several kilometers for the first time. In recent years, due to climate change, Sicily has been evolving towards other crops that seemed unthinkable a decade ago.

From olive to mango

Morettino is right about the latter. Beyond coffee, Sicily is also adapting its production. In the last 50 years, some parts of the island have seen an increase in average temperatures of around two degrees. This is causing changes in the behavior of crops. And also of farmers.

“We used to grow lemons and olives, but the dream and the climate have changed. Now we grow mangoes, avocados and papayas,” says one of these farmers, Pietro Coccia. If things continue like this, olive oil and wine grapes could take a backseat. Universities like Catania are testing seeds and plant varieties that are more resilient and adaptable to climate change, with the aim of developing crops that can withstand hotter, drier climates.

We might think that “it’s not that big of a deal,” imagining that climate change will have no other consequence than farmers having to adapt. The problem is, there is no future like this for Morettino’s coffee plants or Coccia’s papayas.

Around 70% of Sicily is at risk of desertification, which would degrade the quality of the soil, “a process that could be compared to third-degree burns on 70% of the body,” says Professor Christian Mulder, of the University of Catania.

Returning to Morettino coffee, the 30 kilos harvested a few years ago are absurd compared to the production of large producers, but what is important in this equation is that we see that coffee can be grown in Europe, where it was previously impossible. However, the downside is that it is part of a global problem.

Pictures | Noyolcont, Dedda71

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