Alexander Davey, Country Director for the Danish Refugee Council in South Sudan, reflects on the personal and professional impact of the XCEPT research Migrating with Seeds. He shares how its human-centred storytelling, led by South Sudanese researchers, made the work both accessible and powerful—even for non-academic audiences.

He highlights how grounding research in lived experience, including family histories, helps surface core issues and spark meaningful reactions. For Davey, the value of such work lies in its ability to inform real decisions. In a context where humanitarian efforts often feel small compared to the scale of the crisis, strong research helps actors focus their limited resources where they can be most useful.

Davey also points to the importance of research that triggers emotional and critical responses, noting that the dialogue sparked by this work was both urgent and inspiring. For him, XCEPT’s locally-driven, story-rich approach is a model for how research can truly support action on the ground.