The Calabash Research and Development Institute was co-founded by G. Akwue  (the inventor of the board) and Dr. D.E Vwioko as a means of undertaking comprehensive pioneering R & D work on the calabash gourd plant and material. The calabash gourd has for long been used crudely in its natural rounded shapes as musical instruments, containers and domestic utensils.

     The skin of some varieties are carved and used as interior decoration items. The natural curvature shape of the calabash gourd has constrained the utilization of the material for standard construction purposes that should have made it an important commodity and a major source of income for the farmers, the secondary producers, exporters and sellers of the finished products and a significant source of revenue for the global economy.

     The commercial bio-facturing technique developed by the institute that will be used to convert the ideal large calabash gourd fruits into flat and stable boards on the farm before harvesting, will transform the calabash gourd into a useful industrial construction material that will generate a whole new multi-sector industry that will be a source of income and revenue in the global economy especially in the poor low resources countries where the calabash plant grows well