The fight against famine is being lost in Yemen, the United Nations’ humanitarian chief has warned.

Mark Lowcock called the situation “bleak” and told the Security Council it had “deteriorated in an alarming way in recent weeks”.

“We may now be approaching a tipping point, beyond which it will be impossible to prevent massive loss of life as a result of widespread famine across the country,” he said. “We are already seeing pockets of famine-like conditions, including cases where people are eating leaves.”

The middle eastern country is already facing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis with 75 per cent of its 29 million people in need of assistance.

Mr Lowcock said two recent developments threaten to overwhelm the aid operation – a “dramatic economic collapse” that has reduced the value of Yemen’s currency by some 30 per cent and intensified fighting around the Red Sea port of Hodeida, which is key to deliveries of food, medicine and other vital supplies.

The conflict in Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, began with the 2014 takeover of the capital, Sanaa, by Houthi rebels which toppled the internationally recognised government and forced president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee the country.

A Saudi-led coalition allied with the government has been fighting the Houthis since 2015.

Over 10,000 people, including many civilians have died in the country where a cholera epidemic has also broken out.

Mr Lowcock said that during the first six months of this year, the United Nations and humanitarian groups provided assistance to more than 8 million of the most vulnerable Yemenis who don’t know where their next meal will come from.

Last year food was reaching 3 million people a month.

Brutal effects of Yemeni war Show all 12 1 / 12 Brutal effects of Yemeni war Brutal effects of Yemeni war Yemen organised by the UAE's National Media Council shows a Yemeni woman holding a child diagnosed with malnutrition at a hospital in the southeastern port city of Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war Mohamed, 2, is treated for Malnutrition in Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province, Yemen Bel Trew Brutal effects of Yemeni war a trip in Yemen organised by the UAE's National Media Council (NMC) shows a Yemeni woman holding a child diagnosed with malnutrition at a hospital in the southeastern port city of Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province. AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war UAE's National Media Council (NMC) shows a Yemeni woman sitting next to a child diagnosed with malnutrition at a hospital in the southeastern port city of Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province. AFP/Getty Brutal effects of Yemeni war A picture taken on August 7, 2018 during a trip in Yemen organised by the UAE's National Media Council shows Yemeni women attending to children diagnosed with malnutrition at a hospital in the southeastern port city of Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province. (Photo by KARIM SAHIB / AFP) (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war Mohamed, 2, is treated for Malnutrition in Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province, Yemen Bel Trew Brutal effects of Yemeni war A Yemeni child suffering from malnutrition is weighed at a hospital in the northern district of Abs, in Yemen's Hajjah province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war A Yemeni child suffering from malnutrition awaits treatment at a hospital in the northern district of Abs, in Yemen's Hajjah province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war A Yemeni child suffering from malnutrition awaits treatment at a hospital in the northern district of Abs, in Yemen's Hajjah province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war Yemeni nurses weigh a malnourished child at a hospital in the northern district of Yemen's Hajjah province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war A Yemeni woman carries a malnourished child as she waits during food distribution in the province of Hodeida AFP/Getty Brutal effects of Yemeni war A Yemeni child suffering from malnutrition is measured at a hospital in the northern district of Abs, in Yemen's Hajjah province on August 18, 2018. (Photo by ESSA AHMED / AFP) (Photo credit should read ESSA AHMED/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images

Because almost all Yemenis rely on imported food, Mr Lowcock said, the currency depreciation “translates directly into a sharp increase in the price of food for some 10 million Yemenis” who aren’t getting enough food but aren’t part of the aid operation.

There has also been an “unprecedented increases” in the price of fuel, he said.

Intensified fighting in recent weeks around Hodeida is “choking the lifeline” for getting aid to those in need, he added.

Fighting in recent days has cut the main road from Hodeida to the country’s capital, which is the principal conduit for both commercial importers and aid groups for moving supplies, he said. Other routes are heavily damaged, he said.

Armed groups have occupied humanitarian facilities, and attacks have resulted in dozens of deaths and serious damage to public health and water facilities as well as other aid infrastructure, Mr Lowcock said, adding: “We estimate that an additional 3.5 million people may soon be added to the 8 million already severely food insecure.”

The UN continues to push to scale up its aid operation, but he said that “humanitarian organisations simply cannot look after the needs of all 29 million Yemenis. That is untenable”.

He urged the Security Council to press for immediate measures to stabilise Yemen’s economy and support the exchange rate, including ensuring liquidity for the central bank and implementing longstanding commitments to pay salaries of teachers, doctors, health workers and other public service employees throughout the country.

Mr Lowcock also urged that ports be kept open, warning that “the lifeline through which the aid operation runs now hangs by a thread”.

He called for the protection of civilians, schools, hospitals and other civilian infrastructure, the establishment of “an air bridge” for medical evacuations and serious negotiations on “a positive path towards peace”.