Episode 3 – Beyond Series | Rift Valley Radio

How does conflict reshape food, culture, and identity in South Sudan?

In the third episode of the Beyond Series, we turn to food as a lens for understanding displacement, memory, and social change in South Sudan’s conflict-affected borderlands.

Featuring research by Deng Kuol, Elizabeth Nyibol and Luga Aquila, the episode traces the journeys of sorghum, millet, seeds, and cassava across war, displacement, and economic transition. Through these food stories, the researchers explore how cultural knowledge is preserved, transformed, or lost as communities are uprooted and forced to adapt to new environments.

The conversation explores:

• How seeds carry memory, identity, and environmental knowledge across displacement
• The changing cultural and economic meanings of crops such as cassava and sorghum
• How conflict and humanitarian aid are reshaping taste, dignity, and intergenerational relations

This six-part podcast series is part of Rift Valley Radio and is produced in partnership with the Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends programme (XCEPT). The series brings together researchers reflecting on how everyday experiences in borderlands can inform policy and practice.

Listen to Episode 3 below and explore more at xcept.riftvalley.net