Access all our videos, podcasts and event recordings here.

SEARCH
MEDIA TYPE
REGION
LANGUAGE
Joseph Diing is a South Sudanese researcher with the Rift Valley Institute who has been involved in the XCEPT programme from its early stages. In this interview, he reflects on how the programme has shaped his research journey—introducing him…
Sophie Stevens, Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) for the XCEPT programme at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), shares reflections from over a year and a half of overseeing the programme. As the person accountable for its delivery,…
Pamela Combinido of Humanitarian Advisory Group reflects on leading the review of the Ex-Border Local Research Network under the XCEPT programme. She highlights the value of locally-led research in gaining access to complex contexts and producing grounded, credible evidence….
Nathan Shea is the Assistant Director for Conflict and Fragility at The Asia Foundation and the Programme Manager for XCEPT. In this interview, he discusses how XCEPT has challenged dominant narratives about conflict-affected borderlands—shifting the focus from disorder and…
Dalle Abraham, a researcher based in northern Kenya, speaks about the power of community-led research and the unique role local researchers play in understanding the region’s challenges. He underscores how trust and access are central to gathering meaningful data,…
Elizabeth Nyibol, a South Sudanese researcher and long-time contributor to the XCEPT programme, shares her journey from local research to global engagement. Through her work on projects like Changing Tests and her publication Triple Burden, she reflects on how…
  • Recent Publications

    Screenshot of report cover

    The New Geopolitics of Eastern Africa

    On 20 May, the British Institute of Eastern Africa (BIEA), Chatham House, and the Rift Valley Institute (RVI) convened a group of experts to discuss the ‘The New Geopolitics of Eastern Africa’. The closed-door roundtable considered the ongoing transformation of

    MORE »

    Commodification and Conflict in the Horn of Africa Borderlands

    This report synthesizes findings from the Rift Valley Institute’s X-Border Local Research Network (2019–2025). In the surveyed studies, 25 leading local and international area specialists conducted extensive qualitative fieldwork across borderlands in South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and the Somali

    MORE »