Bouna, The volume of cashew marketed in the Bounkani region has fallen from 30,460 tons in 2020 to 23,430 tons in 2021, revealed on Wednesday February 09, 2022, the regional delegate of the Cotton and Cashew Council, Koné Mamadou during an interview at the AIP. Mr. Koné underlined that several factors could explain the drop in production observed in 2021 in the Bounkani region, referring to climate change marked in 2021 by a long period of drought in the Bounkani region, the flight of products to the countries neighboring countries, despite measures prohibiting this illicit trade. Bounkani borders Burkina-Faso and Ghana, countries that also export cashew. Thus, some producers who want to sell their products in these countries at all costs load many tons of cashew nuts into vehicles overnight and cross the border by circuitous routes. “During an awareness campaign on Friday, February 04, 2022, in Bouna, we called on Bounkani cashew producers to avoid this behavior. And that anyone who gets caught will face the full rigors of the law,'' he said. Mr. Koné hopes that the Bounkani region will record for the 2022 campaign more than 30,000 tons of cashew marketed. The 2022 cashew nut marketing campaign started on Friday, February 04, with a mandatory floor price at the farm gate set at 305 CFA francs per kilogram.