The Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) was established in Ibadan, Oyo State on 1st December, 1964 as a successor autonomous research organization to the Nigerian substation of the defunct West African Cocoa Research Institute (WACRI) (Nigeria Statute, Act No. 6 of 1950) following the establishment in 1944 of the headquarters of the said WACRI at Tafo, Ghana with responsibility to conduct research to facilitate improved production of disease-free, or disease resistant cocoa.
By virtue of the Nigerian Research Institutes Act No. 33 of 1964, the scope of CRIN was expanded beyond that of WACRI which include research on kola and coffee in addition to cocoa.
In 1975, by the Agricultural Research Institutes (Establishments, etc), the scope of CRIN research activities was further enlarged to include cashew and tea.
Consequently, CRIN today has mandate to conduct research on five crops, namely, Cocoa, Kola, Coffee, Cashew and Tea throughout the country. Accordingly to the aforementioned enabling Decree the expressed objectives of CRIN mandate on these five crops are:
(i) Improvement of the genetic potential, agronomic and husbandry practices, including processing and storage of the crops.
(ii) Identification of the ecology and methods of control of pests and diseases affecting the crops.
(iii) Investigating the effective utilization of the crops and their by-products, and the feasibility of small-scale production of such end-use products.
(iv) Integration of the cultivation of the mandate crops into cropping systems where each crop is grown by farmers.
(v) Translation of research results and improved technologies into practice among farmers and manufacturers in order to improve production and socio-economic life of the people.
