EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Cyclone Sagar is arguably the most devastating climate-related crisis to have hit Somaliland in contemporary history. Dominant literature to date lays the emphasis on recurring droughts in the region, since drought is the most prevalent natural hazard….
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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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This paper delves into the realm of climate change through an exploration of the Somali poetic drama of Hasan Ganey, focusing specifically on the Calamities are the Best Educators in the Globe drama, performed in 1982 by…
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In Sudan and Ethiopia, official militaries are currently fighting against paramilitaries and non-state militias that, previously, had been important battlefield allies. The ongoing violence does not reflect a breakdown in the political order. Rather, these conflicts are…
INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE PREDICTION AND ADAPTATION AMONG PASTORALISTS IN DHAGAXBUUR DISTRICT OF THE SOMALI REGION, ETHIOPIA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This paper explores how indigenous climate change prediction mechanisms help climate change adaptation among Somali pastoralists in Dhagaxbuur district…
ማጠቃለያ Find the english version of the report here….
ማጠቃለያ Find the English version of this report here….
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LOCAL PEACE STRUCTURES IN MANAGING INTER-CLAN CONFLICTS IN PUNTLAND STATE, SOMALIA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Clan conflicts in Somalia have a long history, dating back to the colonial era through to the period before the collapse of the…
SUMMARY • Despite its predominantly Muslim surrounding area, Jimma is one of the most heterogeneous cities in Ethiopia’s Oromia region. Unlike other Ethiopian cities and towns, Jimma has not seen any major inter-religious or -ethnic clashes since the fall…
THE POLITICS OF RESOURCE EXTRACTION IN ETHIOPIA, POST-2018 SUMMARY • With the formation of the Prosperity Party (PP) in 2019, Abiy Ahmed’s government set out to redress the relationship between the central government and ‘peripheral’ regional states. This included…
Introduction On 27 May 2023, Somalia’s National Consultative Council (NCC) agreed on elections at both a federal and state level.1 Unified local council elections were envisaged to start at district-level elections across all Federal Member States (FMSs) in June…
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)