Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana

The Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) is the country's principal cocoa research institute, headquartered at New Tafo, also known as Akim Tafo, in the Eastern Region, roughly 24 km from Koforidua. It began in June 1938 as the Tafo Central Cocoa Research Station, set up to investigate cocoa pests and diseases. In 1944 it was upgraded to the West African Cocoa Research Institute, with headquarters at Akim Tafo and sub-stations in Ibadan, Nigeria and in Sierra Leone. After Ghana's independence that inter-territorial arrangement ended in 1962, when the Government of Ghana took over the station and renamed it the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana. CRIG now operates as a Division of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).

Its research mandate has widened over time. It started with cocoa pests and diseases, expanded in 1944 to soil fertility and agricultural practices, and since 1966 has covered coffee, kola, sheanut and cashew. The Tafo headquarters holds laboratories, experimental farms, nurseries, training facilities and demonstration plots, and the institute maintains field stations across Ghana's cocoa-growing regions. Work spans genetics and breeding, plant protection, soil science, post-harvest technology and extension.

For visitors, CRIG is a working national agricultural research institute and a cocoa heritage and education site rather than a conventional museum or recreation venue. It offers guided tours of model and experimental cocoa farms and arboretums, with explanation of cocoa production and cocoa products, and it hosts educational and study tours. The New Products Development Unit produces cocoa wine, brandy, gin, vinegar, jam, cocoa butter soaps and lotions, roasted cashew nuts and shea products, while the laboratory makes dark and milk chocolate in about seven flavours. Visit Ghana also lists on-site recreational facilities including a Club House with Bar, a tennis court and indoor games, and a guest house.

Access is by prior appointment, arranged through the institute's administrative office in Tafo; this is not a walk-in attraction. The postal address is P. O. Box 8, New Tafo-Akim, Eastern Region, with digital address EE-1230-5080. Contact details published by CRIG include the website crig.org.gh, emails [email protected] and [email protected], phone numbers +233 (0) 277 609 900, +233 (0) 277 609 904, +233 (0) 544 331 090 and +233 (0) 544 331 092, and fax +233 342021157. Opening hours, tour fees and tour duration are not confirmed in the available sources, so visitors should confirm these directly when booking.