Welcome to Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana

The Cocoa Research Institute (CRIG) of Ghana was established at Tafo (Akim Abuakwa) in June, 1938 as the Central Cocoa Research Station of the Gold Coast Department of Agriculture on the recommendation of the Agricultural Adviser to the British Minister of State for the Colonies, Sir Frank Stockdale. At that time, cocoa production in the Eastern Region, the cradle of the industry, was declining due to pest and disease outbreaks and the station was set up to investigate the problems and introduce control measures. A similar visit to Ghana and Nigeria by the Agricultural Adviser to the Colonial Office, Dr. H.A. Tempany, in 1943 led to the expansion of the station into the West African Cocoa Research Institute (WACRI) in 1944, with Mr. O.J. Voelcker as its first Director, and a sub-station at Ibadan, Nigeria.

After the attainment of independence by Ghana in 1957 and Nigeria in 1960, WACRI was dissolved, giving birth to the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) and the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria CRIN). In Ghana, CRIG was administered by the National Research Council, which later became the Ghana Academy of Sciences. On its dissolution, CRIG came under the administration of the Council For Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 1968. From October, 1973 CRIG was managed as a subsidiary of the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board (GCMB) until October, 1976 when it was placed under the Ministry of Cocoa Affairs.