Food & Climate
Amalfi lemon on Italy’s Amalfi Coast contribute to livelihoods and protect the soil from erosion, and their farmers have earned the nickname “flying farmers.” What is their story?
Their gardens have evolved over centuries, forming a model of mountain agriculture in the Mediterranean region, where innovation blends with tradition.
For nearly a thousand years, farmers have been carving arable land from the steep slopes, planting lemon, olive, and grape orchards in narrow rows of stone terraces clinging to the mountainsides.
Farmers move across wooden trellises, known as “pergolas,” to tend to their crops, earning them the nickname “flying farmers” due to their gravity-defying harvesting techniques.
Amalfi Lemon are cultivated for their intense aroma and sweet, juicy pulp, making them a culinary treasure and a cornerstone of a heritage that remains vibrant through time, according to a report received by “Food & Climate” platform.
Lemons were first introduced to the Amalfi Coast in the early middle Ages through trade with the Arabs and were initially used as a medicinal remedy.
Sailors used them to prevent scurvy during their long voyages. By the 15th century, Amalfi lemon had become a mainstay of the thriving maritime trade, connecting the region to cities throughout Italy and Europe.
Amalfi Lemon helps small farms survive
Over time, Amalfi lemon in Italy have become more than just a commercial commodity; they have become a symbol of identity.
The Sfusato Amalfitano lemon variety has now become an essential part of the Amalfi Coast’s identity. It is so sweet that it can be eaten raw like an apple, it perfumes pastries, flavours pastas and is distilled into limoncello, the region’s signature liqueur.
It also underpins local livelihoods, as agritourism brings visitors into the groves for lemon tours, culinary workshops and a lemon museum that blends agriculture, hospitality and tradition, helping small scale farms endure modern pressures.
The “Sfusato Amalfitano” is the fruit of centuries of local adaptation, uniquely suited to the steep slopes and sea air.
These mosaic gardens and surrounding forests contribute to agricultural biodiversity, ensuring food security and the resilience of the ecosystem in a fragile and mountainous environment.
Gino Amatruda, a third-generation lemon farmer in the Valle delle Ferriere, recalls: “When I was a child, it was normal to have light rain most afternoons in the summer.” Now, it either rains all at once or not at all. When the rains come, they pass by so quickly that the soil is unable to absorb them.”
He explains that the terracing system helps absorb and direct the force of the water, transforming heavy rains from a threat into an important resource.
Neglecting the terraces poses a risk to the land
Although the terraces protect the land planted with Amalfi lemon trees, they can also pose a threat to it.
When carefully maintained, they help stabilize the slopes; but if left unattended, they can collapse and cause landslides.
Farmer Gino Amatruda said: “We work with nature, and if we don’t guide it, it will reclaim what was once its own.” “The Amalfi Coast would not be the same without its lemon terraces.”
The Amalfi lemon groves are the only system in Italy that combines agricultural terraces with pergola trellises for growing lemons, an innovative yet arduous method.
Farmers still harvest the fruit by hand, carrying baskets weighing up to 70 kilograms along mountain paths hundreds of meters above sea level.
Maintaining the pergolas and stone walls is costly and constant, which is why many groves have been abandoned or sold over the past 50 years.
Today, the “flying farmers” are among the last guardians of the Amalfi lemon, their traditions threatened by rising costs, demographic shifts, and climate change.
In August 2025, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) included the Amalfi lemon groves in its Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) program, placing its terraces and wooden trellises among the most valuable agricultural landscapes in the world.
This designation is not merely symbolic; it recognizes that this complex system represents a cultural treasure and agricultural heritage, as well as a model of resilience that must be protected.
Thanks to this recognition, the story of Amalfi’s agriculture is now being told on a global stage. The lemon groves represent more than just an agricultural crop: they are a vital ecosystem that contributes to environmental sustainability, biodiversity conservation, and the promotion of a food culture. The Amalfi lemon is a living example of the interplay between nature, culture, and society, and of the resilience that stems from this connection. Living in harmony with the earth.