XCEPT Local Research Legacy: How collaborative research and mentorship approaches have shaped my research capacity and interest
I was first invited to join the Cross-border Conflict Evidence, Policy, and Trends (XCEPT) programme in 2019, having previously worked with the Rift Valley Institute (RVI) on research in South Sudan. This innovative project brought together international experts and early career researchers from across Africa and Asia under the umbrella of the Local Research Network (LRN). I […]
XCEPT Local Research Legacy: Xogta xuduudaha (Knowledge of the borders)
In 2019, I became a local researcher with the Cross-border Conflict Evidence, Policy, and Trends (XCEPT) programme, run by the Rift Valley Institute (RVI), an independent non-profit organization seeking to foster local knowledge on social, political and economic development in Eastern and Central Africa. Though this was not my first research experience, it was my introduction to being part of […]
Hassan Kochore | XCEPT
In this insightful interview, researcher Hassan Kochore shares his perspectives on the XCEPT programme’s impact in Northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia. He highlights how borderlands are shaped by global, regional and local forces, especially by the communities themselves. Hassan discusses how XCEPT has effectively bridged the gap between research and policy through its innovative local […]
Why South Sudan’s Unity State is drowning in pollution
This blog is part of the XCEPT project carried out by the Rift Valley Institute between May and June 2024. In this blog, the researcher draws heavily on his data from field observation and conversations with the respondents during the research in Mayom and Rubkona counties of Unity State. The researcher is a citizen of […]
‘THE FUEL IS US’: WATER, OIL AND DEBT ON THE SUDAN-SOUTH SUDAN BORDERLANDS
South Sudan and Sudan’s borderlands are run by a patchwork of armed authorities. Since early 2019, when opposition forces were effectively wiped out, these zones of control have remained relatively fixed, even as the war in Sudan drew close to the Nuba Mountains. Although there have been changes since the onset of the war—including the […]
Conflict, displacement and children in paid work in the Sudan-South Sudan borderlands
In this blog, Manal examines the pressures forcing many displaced people, including children, to seek paid labour to supplement dwindling support mechanisms in camps in South Sudan. The author draws on her research in 2024 as part of the XCEPT programme. Child labour in the Nuba Mountains borders In 2011, a brutal conflict between Sudanese […]
RESTRUCTURING THE MARGINS: EMERGING POLITICAL ORDERS IN KENYA’S BORDERLANDS
During the past decade, northern Kenya’s peripheral border counties have become key to the central state’s political and economic agenda. This synthesis report therefore uses the concept of ‘restructuring the margins’ to unpack the findings of two case study reports exploring how political decentralization, coupled with cross-border, national level and county-level dynamics, impact borderland trade […]
Who Controls the Borderlands? Rents, debts and the role of political and commercial elites on the Kenya-Ethiopia and Sudan-South Sudan borders
Format: Hybrid EventDate: Tuesday, 18 February 2025Time: 10:30 AM – 12:30 PMVenue: BIEA Seminar Room, Laikipia Road, Kileleshwa, Nairobi and Online Borderland revenues, routes and controls are at the heart of state projects on the margins in Kenya and South Sudan. New XCEPT research examines the evolution of border controls and revenue generation projects on two crucial borders in the region. These […]
INFORMAL TRADE, GENDER AND CONFLICT DYNAMICS ON THE NEW KENYA-ETHIOPIA TRADE CORRIDOR
This report examines the effects of infrastructure development and shifting political conditions on trade and conflict at the Kenya–Ethiopia border, including on gender dynamics. In doing so, it focuses on how small-town cross-border traders in the town of Moyale, which straddles both countries, are navigating the area’s shifting economic and political landscape. This report is […]
Dissemination and Policy Workshop | 4th December 2024 | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
On 4th December 2024, the Rift Valley Institute (RVI) hosted a regional workshop in Addis Ababa bringing together researchers, policymakers and practitioners to discuss cross-border dynamics in the Horn of Africa. The event explored conflict, governance and economic flows in border regions highlighting key research findings and policy recommendations to support peace and development. Watch […]