New York, May 10 2012  1:05PM

A major funding gap is threatening efforts to boost food security and development in the Sahel region of West Africa and in the Horn of Africa in the east, a senior United Nations official warned today.

The Horn of Africa, which includes countries such as Somalia and Djibouti, experienced a food crisis last year that left an estimated 13 million people dependent on humanitarian assistance. Currently there are 15 million people facing food insecurity in the Sahel, which stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, and includes countries such as Niger and Mali.

“In the Horn of Africa we are losing the window of opportunity to build on our recent achievements – which helped to overcome the famine declared last year in Somalia – increasing the resilience of families facing drought,” <“http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/142504/icode/”>said the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), José…