Food insecurity in Africa should be overcome in 5 years -AfDB head

Boys walk on desert sands in the town of Moghtar-Lajjar May 25 2012. Civil unrest and a drought in west Africa's Sahel region have put 15 million people in food insecurity, according to the United Nations. REUTERS/Joe Penney/File Photo

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Programs supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB) in over 30 African countries have helped produce some $12 billion worth of food, and the bank’s $25 billion objective is "well on track," AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina said on Friday.

"As far as I'm concerned, we shouldn't be talking about food security in Africa more than five years from now. There's no reason for it," he told Reuters. "We have the technology and the financing to do it at scale."