From Dust to Dollar focuses on the borderland region between Sudan and Ethiopia, using gold-mining and trade to examine transnational flows of people and commodities across its semi-permeable frontier. Gold mining has shifted from being part of a long-term,…
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 have extensive knowledge of infectious diseases and experience of organizing responses to epidemics during wars and other crises. There are multiple, locally-specific methods used by communities for interrupting infection transmission and managing epidemics. This report documents…
This briefing summarizes findings from the Rift Valley Institute’s research project, Community Approaches to Epidemic Management in South Sudan (CAEMSS), which started in August 2020. The project, which began in response to the global coronavirus pandemic, was designed to document how…
In February 2020 Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, appointed Hussein Abdel Bagi—head of the South Sudan Opposition Alliance—as one of his five vice-presidents. Abdel Bagi is a member of the Malual Dinka community from Madhol, on the Northern Bahr el-Ghazal…
Key points • Hussein Abdel Bagi’s appointment as the third Vice-President of South Sudan is an important building block for the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU), particularly its relations with Khartoum. Hussein’s long experience of Sudanese politics, and…
Breaking Out of the Borderlands is the second report by Dr Nicki Kindersley and Joseph Diing Majok on South Sudan’s changing borderland economy. The first report in the series—Monetized Livelihoods and militarized Labour in South Sudan’s Borderlands—described the protracted…
Displaced Tastes is a research project run by the Rift Valley Institute in partnership with the Catholic University of South Sudan under the X-Border Local Research Network. The project examines the changing tastes for food in South Sudan in…
This briefing summarizes findings from the mid-point of the Community Approaches to Epidemic Management in South Sudan research project. The project is run by the Rift Valley Institute (RVI) and funded by the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office…
In South Sudan, access to energy is crucial for survival, recovery and resilience in what is an extremely challenging economic and security environment. Fuelling Poverty—a product of the Energy on the Move project—examines the challenges of meeting everyday energy…
South Sudan’s long wars have forced millions of people to leave their own homes, farms and pastures and move to unfamiliar new areas of the countryside, to refugee camps and cities. In the process, they have changed the way…
Recent Publications
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CONFLICT TRENDS IN GAMBELLA STATE (2018-2024)
February 27, 2025
Since 2018, Gambella has experienced several conflicts. While some can be categorized as a continuation of protracted conflicts in the region, others can be attributed to the post-2018 political changes in Addis Ababa. The major conflicts include, Anywaa–Nuer conflict, the
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Why South Sudan’s Unity State is drowning in pollution
February 27, 2025
This blog is part of the XCEPT project carried out by the Rift Valley Institute between May and June 2024. In this blog, the researcher draws heavily on his data from field observation and conversations with the respondents during the
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የሐዋሳ ከተማ ውዝግቦችና ተለዋዋጭ ገፅታዎቻቸው
February 27, 2025
በኢትዮጵያ ከተሞች የሚታዩ ውዝግቦችን ማጥናት፣ ከአዲስ አበባ ውጪ ያሉ የከተማ ማዕከላት የሚስተዋሉ ጉልህ ማኅበራዊ፣ ኢኮኖሚያዊ እና ፖለቲካዊ ለውጦች ምን ዓይነት መልክ እንዳላቸው ለመገንዘብ ይረዳል። በዚህ ረገድ በቅርቡ የተመሠረተው የሲዳማ ክልል ርዕሰ መዲና በሆነችው የቀድሞ የደቡብ ክልል ዋና ከተማ ሐዋሳ ላለፉት