Aden, Dec 14 (IANS): In a warning, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that 5 million Yemenis "will likely be living just one step away from famine in the upcoming year".

In a statement posted on its official Twitter account on Sunday, the UN agency said that more than half of Yemen's overall population could head further into famine in 2021, reports Xinhua news agency.

An estimated 50,000 people will be living in famine-like conditions in the war-ravaged Arab country during 2021, the statement added.

Immediate support is urgently needed to save Yemen as "UN response remains only 49 percent funded", FAO noted.

According to the UN organization, Yemen remains the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

Nearly 16 million people, more than half of Yemen's population, are in crisis or worse levels of food insecurity.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi rebels seized control of several northern provinces and forced the internationally-recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.

The world's worst humanitarian crisis in Yemen is the result of more than five years of brutal conflict, disease, economic collapse and a breakdown of public institutions and services.