Research on conflict and violence in the eastern Congo often focuses on rural areas, which harbour armed groups, and are the prime sites of military operations against these groups. However, conflict and insecurity do not stop at the…
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Haji Abdulkarim Hussein Yusuf, known as ‘Haji Abdi Warabe’, died in Hargeysa, Somaliland, on Friday 10 May 2019. His precise age is unknown, but local reports state that he lived to over one hundred. He was buried in a small…
In early 2019, RVI moved to new offices in Hai Kuwait, Juba. While we were sorry to leave behind our previous premises and generous hosts at the Catholic University of South Sudan, we are excited about the opportunities the…
Binyavanga Wainaina, a Fellow of the Rift Valley Institute since 2009, died on May 21 at the age of 48. A leading figure in the current literary renaissance in sub-Saharan Africa, Binyavanga was the founder of the literary journal Kwani?,…
The Somali diaspora has been a lifeline for people in Somalia for many years, responding to major humanitarian emergencies and everyday crises. The ways in which this humanitarian response is mobilised, channelled and delivered to people in Somalia is the subject of…
Introduction On 5 July 2019, the Rift Valley Forum launched the book, Widow Inheritance and Contested Citizenship in Kenya, by Dr. Awino Okech. The book explores the intersection between power, gender and sexuality, and the role of body politics in the construction…
The Rift Valley Institute will participate in the Hargeysa International Book Fair (HIBF) panel event ‘The Wisdom of Elders’, to be held on 23 July in Hargeysa, Somaliland. Two South Sudanese chiefs from Aweil and Yambio, with whom RVI…
Marol Academy is a community primary school in Southern Sudan, in Warab state. It opened in 2008 with 350 students and seven teachers. Founded by Dr Jok Madut Jok, an RVI Fellow born in Warab, the Academy is one…
Engaging Monyomiji: Bridging the Governance Gap in East Bank Equatoria by Simon Simonse and Eisei Kurimoto explores local governance in South Sudan’s south-easternmost state. The Monyomiji are an age-set with responsibility to protect the ethnic communities they belong to;…
RVI Fellow Conradin Perner (Kwacakworo), was awarded the Yellow Star medal by the President of the Republic of South Sudan Salva Kiir Mayardit shortly after South Sudan's independence day. A renowned ethnographer of the Anyuak and a founder of…
Recent Publications
Beyond the Beans: The Political Economy of Coffee in Ethiopia
September 29, 2026
A synthesis of three case studies in the Sidama–Gedeo–Guji, Kaffa–Bench-Sheko–Sheka and Jimma–Buno Bedele–Ilu Aba Bora belts SUMMARY The Ethiopia Peace Research Facility This report was written for the Ethiopia Peace Research Facility as part of its Knowledge for Peace series
The Political Economy of Coffee in the Sidama–Gedeo–Guji Belt, Southern Ethiopia
September 4, 2026
This report is part of a wider research project on the political economy of coffee in Ethiopia in the context of the political transition since 2018. It focuses on the Sidama–Gedeo–Guji coffee belt in southern Ethiopia, aiming to understand the
SHECONF 2026: International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities
July 9, 2026
Event report On 26 March 2026, researchers, practitioners and academics gathered in Addis Ababa for SHECONF 2026, an International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities in Ethiopia, the first of its kind convened by the Ethiopian Women Researchers Network (EWNET).