Publications

The Institute publishes books, research reports, research papers, briefings and meeting reports in a range of formats. Publications cover policy, research, arts, culture and local knowledge in the countries of eastern and central Africa. Research publications—books, reports and papers—are peer-reviewed. Some RVI publications are also available in French and/or Arabic. Blogs can be read here.

The RVI is a signatory of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (2001); all publications are free for download in PDF format under Creative Commons licences. Print versions of most books and reports, and digital versions in Kindle and other specialist formats, are available for sale from Amazon and other online retailers, and from selected bookstores. Proceeds from sales are allocated to the Institute's Scholarship Fund, which provides support to researchers and activists from eastern and central Africa.

The views expressed in books and reports published by the RVI are those of the authors, not the Institute.

Monetized Livelihoods and Militarized Labour in South Sudan’s Borderlands

x-border project

Sudan and South Sudan

Research Reports

Monetized Livelihoods and Militarized Labour in South Sudan’s Borderlands

Nicki Kindersley, Joseph Diing Majok

2019

Monetized-Livelihoods-and-Militarized-Labour-in-South-Sudans-Borderlands-by-Nicki-Kindersley-and-Josephy-Diing-Majok-RVI-X-Border-Project-2019.pdf

Northern Bahr el-Ghazal, like much of South Sudan, is in a protracted state of social and economic crisis, rooted in generations of armed conflict, forced resettlements, and a shift towards a cash and market economy. Since the 1980s, family units and livelihoods have been destroyed, displaced or reworked by conflict and most people have been forced to engage in precarious work for survival.…

Somalia and Yemen's Cross-border Maritime Economy

x-border project

Horn of Africa

Research Reports

Somalia and Yemen's Cross-border Maritime Economy

Nisar Majid, Khalif Abdirahman

2019

Mobility, Trust and Exchange by Nisar Majid and Khalif Abdirahman - RVI X-Border Project (2019).pdf

The legacy of Somali piracy, the threat of terrorists transiting between Yemen and Somalia, and the deepening conflict in Yemen, mean international actors tend to view the Gulf of Aden through a security lens. This report outlines the local social and economic relations that criss-cross the maritime border between Yemen and Somalia, and which, despite being less visible to international policy…

Usalama

Great Lakes

Briefings

Youth Groups and Urban Policing in the Eastern Congo

Judith Verweijen, Michel Thill, Maarten Hendriks

2019

Ambiguous Order by Judith Verweijen, Michel Thill and Maarten Hendriks - RVI SPR Usalama Project Briefing (2019).pdf

Key points In numerous cities in the eastern Congo, youth groups are involved in urban policing, operating in the space between state and non-state actors and formal and informal governance. While some youth policing groups are responsible for improvements in security in their neighbourhoods, others play a role in the deterioration of the local security environment. These groups may, at…

Cash, Commodification and Conflict in South Sudan

x-border project

Sudan and South Sudan

Research Reports

Moving Towards Markets: Cash, Commodification and Conflict in South Sudan

Edward Thomas

2019

Moving towards markets by Edward Thomas - RVI X-border Project (2019).pdf

Fifty years ago, most households in South Sudan produced the grain they ate, organizing agricultural labour and distributing small surpluses mostly through kinship and other social networks. Now, the majority of households buy most of their food. This transition from self-sufficiency to market dependence took place during long wars, which transformed or distorted almost every aspect of…

Sudan and South Sudan

Briefings

Sudan’s Spring: causes and consequences

Alden Young, Magdi el-Gizouli, Margie Buchanan-Smith, Naomi Pendle

2019

Sudan's Spring by Alden Young, Magdi el-Gizouli, Margie Buchanan-Smith and Naomi Pendle - RVI Briefing (2019).pdf

This Q&A is an explainer on the rapid political changes that have taken place in Sudan over the last month. All 4 contributors are close collaborators with the Rift Valley Institute. Questions were posed by Magnus Taylor, RVI’s Senior Publications Manager. Alden Young and Naomi Pendle are co-directors of RVI’s Sudan and South Sudan field course, held this year in Ethiopia. For more…

Assessing the 2017 Somaliland Presidential Election

Horn of Africa

Research Papers

Assessing the 2017 Somaliland Presidential Election

Adan Abokor, Naisr M. Ali

2019

Assessing the 2017 Somaliland Presidential Election by Dr Adan Yusuf Abokor and Nasir M. Ali (2018).pdf

In May 2001, Somaliland’s citizens went to the polls to approve an interim constitution in a public referendum coordinated by the Government of Somaliland. The constitution called for multi-party politics and democratic elections. Since then, Somaliland has held a series of contested elections at different levels: local, parliamentary and presidential. Elections have become a familiar…

Sudan and South Sudan

Research Reports

Speaking Truth To Power in South Sudan

Jedeit J. Riek, Naomi Pendle

2019

Speaking Truth to Power by Jedeit J. Riek and Naomi R. Pendle - RVI SSCA Project (2019).pdf

Prophets—those recognised as having been ‘seized’ by a divinity—have played an important role in the history of South Sudan, particularly that of the Nuer people. They were seen as being powerful political actors and, alongside chiefs, important intermediaries for the colonial authorities. However, the influence of the Nuer prophets goes much further than mobilizing or de-mobilizing the Nuer…

Sudan and South Sudan

Research Reports

Customary Authorities Displaced

Bruno Braak, John Justin Kenyi

2018

Customary Authorities Displaced by Bruno Braak and John Justin Kenyi - RVI SSCA Project (2018).pdf

South Sudan’s violent conflicts continue to plague its people. An estimated four million South Sudanese have been forcibly displaced since December 2013, and more than a million have sought refuge in Uganda where communities have largely reassembled without their traditional or customary leaders. Customary Authorities Displaced examines the consequences of conflict and displacement on…

Cultures of Dialogue: Local and National Experiences in South Sudan

Sudan and South Sudan

Meeting Reports

Cultures of Dialogue: Local and National Experiences in South Sudan

2018

Cultures of Dialogue - RVI Juba Lecture Series (2017).pdf

Mounting peace agreements and numerous ceasefire violations have resulted in sustained international pressure on South Sudan’s leaders to end a civil war that has displaced some 4 million people and created a severe humanitarian crisis. In an effort to address the root causes of the crisis, South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir Mayardit, announced his government’s intention to initiate a…

The Challenge of Reform within Ethiopia’s Constitutional Order

Horn of Africa

Briefings

The Challenge of Reform within Ethiopia’s Constitutional Order

Christophe Van der Beken

2018

The Challenge of Reform within Ethiopia's Constitutional Order by Christophe Van der Beken - RVI Briefing Paper (2018).pdf

For over two decades Ethiopia’s political federation has been organized around the principle of ‘democratic centralism’. This philosophy also lies at the heart of the ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition, and its centralized decision-making culture. Until recently, EPRDF policies were formulated through a top-down process rather than on the basis of local…

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