SUMMARY At its signing in October 2020, it was hoped that the Juba Peace Agreement (JPA) would finally address the root causes of the conflicts in Sudan. Three years later, it is clear that the most important legacy of…
RVI 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.
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SUMMARY Sudan’s economy is based on resources that have been exploited via violence rather than through peaceful, sustainable means. As a result, those who have benefited are those who control the means of violence. Furthermore, the inequalities in wealth,…
SUMMARY The Juba Peace Agreement (JPA) was negotiated beginning in September 2019 in the South Sudanese capital by representatives of Sudan’s new civilian-military transitional government and a collection of Sudan’s armed and civilian opposition groups comprising the Sudanese Revolutionary…
This Conflict Trends Report presents a comprehensive analysis of conflict patterns in the Amhara Region in the period April 2022 to September 2023. While focusing on conflicts in northern Amhara, it also provides an overview of other conflicts in…
Women in Ethiopia face a variety of political, security, economic and socio-cultural barriers. As is the case elsewhere, in Ethiopia violent conflict tends to result in women suffering disproportionate victimization and human rights violations. This underlines the importance of…
SUMMARY This report explores the political economy of checkpoints in Somalia: What drives their formation? What impacts do they have on trade, society and political projects? To explore these factors, new empirical data is presented on the distribution and…
THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CHECKPOINTS ALONG THE BAIDOA CORRIDOR SUMMARY • The Baidoa corridor is a transport and trade route that connects Somalia’s coastal capital, Mogadishu, to Kenya via the border towns of Bula Hawa and Dollow, respectively. As…
THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CHECKPOINTS ALONG SOMALIA’S GARISSA CORRIDOR SUMMARY • The Garissa corridor is an essential artery for trade and exchange between Kismayo in Somalia’s Jubaland state, and the Kenyan city of Garissa. Checkpoints along this route were…
SUMMARY • This report studies the role of religion in recent inter-communal conflicts in Ethiopia outside of Addis Ababa. While not entirely neglecting disputes and perceptions in the capital, it seeks to paint a fuller and more versatile picture…
Introduction One of the most significant recent developments in the prolonged struggle against al-Shabaab in Somalia has been the success of military operations led by the Somali National Armed Forces and allied self-defence militias known as Ma’awisley. Ma’awisley—named after the…
Recent Publications
Commodification and Conflict in the Horn of Africa Borderlands
April 1, 2026
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
Peace and Instability: Tigray since the Pretoria Agreement
March 26, 2026
CONFLICT TRENDS ANALYSIS / MARCH 2026 Summary THE ETHIOPIA PEACE RESEARCH FACILITY This conflict trends analysis was produced by the Ethiopia Peace Research Facility (PRF). The PRF is an independent facility combining timely analysis on peace and conflict from Ethiopian
Political Economy of Cash and Markets in Sudan
February 27, 2026
The research provides a snapshot of the war in Sudan in the period from February to April 2025. However, the war is dynamic, with political alliances and territorial control changing. The April 2023 conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF)