Publications|Home

Where RVI Works

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.

x-border project
Sudan and South Sudan
Briefings
SUDAN CONFLICT: ASSESSING THE RISK OF REGIONALIZATION
By
2023
RVI 2023.06.11 Sudan Rapid Response 2_Regionalization .pdf

This paper focuses on the potential for a regionalization of the conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), including external involvement by Sudan’s neighbours and cross-border spill-over.  It is the second in a series of briefing papers from Rift Valley Institute for the UK government’s XCEPT (Cross-Border Conflict, Evidence, Policy and Trends)…

MORE
Horn of Africa
Research Reports
EPISTEMOLOGICAL DEBATES AND IDEOLOGICAL FAULT-LINES IN ETHIOPIA
By
Dereje Feyissa
2023
Epistemological Debates_Final (1)_0.pdf
INTRODUCTION


Social science knowledge production in Ethiopia, as elsewhere in Africa, has Eurocentric roots. This is because Ethiopian Studies was born outside of Ethiopia, with the first generation of scholars consisting mainly of academics from Western countries or Ethiopians educated in Eurocentric traditions. The knowledge they produced centred around Ethiopian exceptionalism,…

MORE
Horn of Africa
Research Reports
RELIGION IN CONTEMPORARY ETHIOPIA: HISTORY, POLITICS AND INTER-RELIGIOUS RELATIONS 
By
Jörg Haustein, Abduletif Kedir Idris and Diego Malara
2023
Religion in Contemporary Ethiopia_Final 29 May 2023 v2-compressed.pdf

INTRODUCTION

Religious affiliation is almost universal in Ethiopia, which means that religions amass significant political capital but may also act as potential catalysts for conflict. After five decades of ostensibly secular politics—first under a socialist dictatorship and then driven by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF)’s strict…

MORE
Somali Dialogue Platform
Horn of Africa
Briefings
PUNTLAND’S LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS: IMPLICATIONS AND PROSPECTS FOR PUNTLAND’S PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
By
2023
Analytical-Briefing_PLGE_Implications-and-prospects.pdf
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS

The phased process of conducting local government elections (LGEs) in Puntland has now commenced, building on the agreements made between various political actors— mainly the political associations, Puntland state and the Transitional Puntland Electoral Commission (TPEC). The initial phase involved voter registration, which was first concluded in Bari, Karkaar and…

MORE
Somali Dialogue Platform
Horn of Africa
Briefings
DOORKA UU 4.5 KU LEEYAHAY DIMUQRAADIYEYNTA IYO DOWLADNIMADA SOOMAALIYA
By
2023
Dulmar

Inkastoo ay isbeddello waaweyn ka dheceen saaxadda siyaasadda Soomaaliya labaatankii sano ee lasoo dhaafay, arrin aan is beddelin ayaa ah ku tiirsanaanta nidaamka awood-qeybsiga beelaha, oo ay kamid tahay ‘4.5’. Inkastoo Dastuurka Kumeelgaarka ee Soomaaliya uusan dhigeyn wax tixraac ah oo la xiriira nidaamkan, haddana waxa uu hannaanka 4.5 go’aamiyaa saami qeybsiga beelaha ee Golaha…

MORE
Somali Dialogue Platform
Horn of Africa
Briefings
THE ROLE OF 4.5 IN DEMOCRATIZATION AND GOVERNANCE IN SOMALIA
By
2023
Role of 4.5 in democratisation and governence in Somalia_EN_4.5_WEB.pdf
Overview

Amid the major changes to Somalia’s political landscape seen over the past two decades, an abiding feature has been the reliance on clan-based power-sharing models, including the ‘4.5’ formula. Despite the Somali Provisional Constitution containing no reference to the formula, it continues to determine the allocation of seats to clans in the Federal Parliament’s House of the People (…

MORE
x-border project
Sudan and South Sudan
Research Papers
HEMEDTI CHALLENGES SAF’S CONTROL OVER SUDAN
By
2023
RVI 2023.05.10 Sudan Rapid Response 1_XCEPT.pdf

This paper focuses on the origins and the political and military objectives of the two main internal actors – the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — in Sudan’s ongoing conflict. It is the first in a series of briefing papers from Rift Valley Institute for the UK government’s XCEPT (Cross-Border Conflict, Evidence, Policy and Trends) programme looking at the…

MORE
Somali Dialogue Platform
Horn of Africa
Briefings
DARDARGALINTA HESHIISKA SIYAASADEED EE JUBALAND: FURSADAHA DARDARGALIN WADAHADAL
By
2023
RVI_PB_SOM_jubaland01_WEB1.pdf
Dulmar 

Tan iyo markii la sameeyay dowlad-goboleedka Jubaland 2012-kii, tobannaan sano oo colaado ah ka dib, xasilooni ayaa ka jirta qeybo kamid ah gobolka. Iyadoo ay side tahay, waxaa weli sii socda amni darrada, gacan ka haal siyaasad la xiriira, dhibaatooyinka bini’aadamnimo iyadoo uu jiro khilaaf soo noqnoqday oo u dhexeeya Jubaland iyo dowladda federaalka. Kala qeybsanaanta siyaasadeed…

MORE
Somali Dialogue Platform
Horn of Africa
Briefings
REVITALIZING JUBALAND’S POLITICAL SETTLEMENT: OPPORTUNITIES FOR RE-ESTABLISHING DIALOGUE
By
2023
RVI_PB_EN_jubaland01_WEB4.pdf
  Overview

Since the formation of Jubaland state in 2012, decades of conflict have given way to increased stability across parts of the region. Even so, insecurity, political violence and humanitarian crises have persisted amid recurrent tensions between Jubaland and the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS). Indeed, political fragmentation continues to characterize dynamics in the state: al-…

MORE
Great Lakes
Research Reports
ALL AUTHORITIES HAVE EATEN: A HISTORY AND POLITICAL ECONOMY OF URBAN LAND IN BUKAVU
By
2023
RVI 2023.03.01 All Authorities Have Eaten - compressed.pdf
SUMMARY

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, Congo), the opaque land governance framework, known to be at the bottom of countless conflicts ranging from disagreements between neighbours to violent clashes between armed groups, has been undergoing reform for more than ten years. Much policy attention in these debates around land and conflict is given to the Congo countryside but stakes in…

MORE