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Publications

Publications

The Institute 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. Blogs can be read here.

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. Print versions of most books and reports, and digital versions in Kindle and other specialist formats, are available for sale from Amazon and other online retailers, and from selected bookstores. Proceeds from sales are allocated to the Institute's Scholarship Fund, which provides support to researchers and activists from eastern and central Africa.

The views expressed in books and reports published by the RVI are those of the authors, not the Institute.

2015
Key points

•    A sudden, forced repatriation of Dadaab’s 350,000 Somalis would violate Kenyan and international law, could destabilize Somalia and ultimately undermine Kenyan security.

•    Although Kenya will not forcibly repatriate Dadaab’s Somali residents, the government’s policy is to work for the camps’ closure and for the return of the residents to Somalia.

•    …

2015

‘The information in the report is accurate and ‘spot on’ … there is a lot to learn from this important issue.’
SUAD IBRAHIM ABDI, PROGRESSIO, SOMALILAND

‘The study is unique in the research questions it raises and in the relevance and significance of its findings. It is one of the best studies of elections in Somaliland in more than ten years. It deals…

2015

'A valuable contribution to the study of borderlands and state formation. It will be of great interest to students, scholars, policymakers and donors.'
REDIE BEREKTEAB, NORDIC AFRICA INSTITUTE, UPSSALA

'An ethnographic study of two Somali clans with in-depth analyses of the competing narratives that different community leaders advance. The book will generate a lively…

2015

On Friday, 27 February 2015, the Nairobi Forum invited author Eddie Thomas to launch his new book South Sudan: A Slow Liberation in a panel discussion at RVI’s office in Nairobi. Peter Biar Ajak of the Centre for Strategic Analyses and Casie Copeland of International Crisis Group joined Eddie on the panel, which was chaired by Don Bosco Malish of the Open Society Initiative for…

2015

'In Somalia, land issues are particularly complex. Those involved in both policy and practice need to understand this complexity better if durable political solutions are to be identified and property rights for individuals and communities secured. Lee Cassanelli explains the complex nature of land use, as well as the concept of ‘home’ in the Somali context. His paper is food for thought…

2015
Key points

Nairobi’s Eastleigh neighbourhood hosts one of the largest ethnic Somali communities outside Somalia—composed of Kenyan Somalis as well as Somali nationals whose numbers have swelled since the collapse of their state.

Eastleigh has become an important centre of Somali diaspora life and a hub for a trust-based trading community that operates across East Africa and…

2014

'In South Sudan there is no system of governance so popular—yet so little understood—as the federal system. Historically the demand for federation with North Sudan was seen as the way to keep Sudan united, and the absence of such a system was held up as one of the causes of the long wars between North and South. Now federalism is proposed as a panacea for problems of governance in…

2014

In July 2014, humanitarian agencies and the government of Somalia warned of a new severe drought in Somalia, only three years after more than 250,000 people died in a deadly famine. In a report for Tufts University and the Rift Valley Institute, Daniel Maxwell and Nisar Majid examine the lessons arising from the international response to the famine in 2011 on how to prevent and mitigate a…

2014

This briefing examines the emergence of the Somali migration route to Uganda and its significance in the long history of Somali migration in East Africa. It discusses the factors underlying the decision-making processes of Somali refugees in relation to cross-border movement. And it asks whether the Somali flows to Uganda are a short-term trend in response to a deterioration in living…

2014

'Objective, analytical and balanced.'
IBRAHIM FARAH, UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
 

Summary

Talking Peace in the Ogaden outlines the modern history of ethnic Somalis in relation to the Ethiopian state from the late 19th century to the present day, and assesses prospects for a peaceful settlement between the Ethiopian government and the Ogaden National Liberation…