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,…
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.
The RVI is a signatory of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (2001); all publications are free for download in PDF format under Creative Commons licences. The views expressed in books and reports published by the RVI are those of the authors, not the Institute.
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South Sudanese people are suffering under economic and climatic crises and political stasis. The last two years have involved a rapid deterioration of basic living conditions and safety for the majority. Popular engagement with national elections must be understood…
This paper offers an analysis of conflict trends in Ethiopia’s Benishangul–Gumuz Regional State, focusing on the period since the 2018 national political transition. As well as providing a historical overview, it examines the drivers of contemporary violence, the role…
- By Robert Aharanya Claudio
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This blog examines the social impact of the shifting course of the Nabek River in Kakuma refugee camp where, when the river overflows and changes direction, it sweeps away homes, forcing refugees to migrate internally. By Robert Aharanya Claudio…
Dereje Feyissa and Fana Gebresenbet, with Abreham Abebe This report offers a case study of the contestation for ownership and control of key urban resources in Hosanna, located in the Hadiya zone of the newly formed Central Ethiopia Regional…
- By Youniyas Abdurahman Seliman
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This blog explores how water scarcity affects women and girls, especially in their daily tasks, safety and health in Kakuma refugee camp, which is located in Kenya’s hot and semi-arid Turkana region. By Youniyas Abdurahman Seliman Introduction As climate…
- By Tamanji Logodi
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The research for this blog found that locally led women’s microfinance groups provided financial security and opportunities for refugee women who could not get funds from banks or NGOs. By Tamanji Logodi Introduction Originally a temporary home for South…
Dire Dawa, the second-most populous city in Ethiopia, is known as a melting pot of ethnic, language and religious groups in the east of the country. In the aftermath of the 2018 national political transition, however, the city, which…
This report was written for the Ethiopia Peace Research Facility (PRF) and is part of its Knowledge for Peace (K4P) series on contested borderlands The PRF is an independent facility combining timely analysis on peace and conflict from Ethiopian…
Why are the majority of refugees in Kakuma and Kalobeyei refugee camps in north–west Kenya resistant to the Kenyan government’s new official policy of integration with the local community? This paper explores this question through personal interviews and focus…
Recent Publications
State Capture in Africa: How elite networks undermine democracy, development and security
June 24, 2026
Key points State capture has been increasingly recognized as a major governance challenge due to the way it helps to drive many of the most pressing problems facing contemporary states, including democratic erosion, corruption, economic exclusion, insecurity and declining trust
The New Geopolitics of Eastern Africa
June 17, 2026
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
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