The reduction of support for the country ABC’s from the 394 to  52 or 13.2 percent is to make them more efficient and productive, he said.
The ministry will select 4 ABCs per district excluding Freetown and transform them into learning centres for farmers. The remaining 342 will be used by communities, agricultural companies and others interested in investing in agriculture.
The agriculture ministry is selecting the 52 ABCs to actively promote agricultural activities wherever each is strategically located. He said they want to bring efficiency in terms of production and productivity in the sector and stop the importation of rice by ensuring local farmers take full control of the ABCs.
It could be recalled that on 31st July 2010 the government launched the Smallholder Commercialization Program (SCP). The ABCs were built by World Food Programme (WFP) and the European Union (EU) and managed by the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP).