Land, labour, and politics in Sudan’s farmlands
Sudan’s big grain producers are struggling to find sufficient labour to manage their fields, writes RVI Fellow Magdi El Gizouli. The problem is particularly bad in the central Gezira region, in the eastern Gedaref State, and in North Darfur. Writing on his StillSudan blog, El Gizouli notes that the biggest reason for the labour shortfall […]
Digital edition of RVI Sudan Handbook: Launch in Washington DC Friday 9 March
On Friday March 9, RVI founding Fellows Jok Madut Jok and John Ryle gave a talk on the current situation in the Sudans at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), in Washington DC. The event marked the publication of the digital edition of The Sudan Handbook, now available for free download from www.riftvalley.net.
Eric Reeves on Darfur
Compromising with Evil: An archival history of greater Sudan, 2007-2012 is the unequivocal title of Eric Reeves' account of the role of the Government of Sudan in Sudan's internal wars. The book comes with accolades from scholars such as Douglas H. Johnson, writers and activists such as Alhag Warrag and Omer Ismail, and luminaries such […]
From Khartoum to Texas
Faisal Goes West is a tragicomic drama about a Sudanese family's adjustment to life in the United States. The film is directed by Bentley Brown and produced by Rani Birchfield with a largely Sudanese and American production team and cast featuring several up-and-coming Sudanese actors and musicians. The film-makers are seeking funding for post-production through […]
Juba University Lecture Series
A two-day series of lectures was held in Juba on 2 and 3 June 2011, in the run-up to the independence celebrations in South Sudan. The theme of the lectures – the second in an annual series – was culture and nationhood. The event was organised by the Rift Valley Institute in collaboration with the […]
Sudanese arts and literature: Taghreed el-Sanhouri and Isam Babiker
Taghreed el-Sanhouri’s documentary Our Beloved Sudan (2011) portrays Sudan from independence in 1956 to partition in 2011. Expanding on some of the themes of Taghreed's earlier All About Darfur (2005) the new film includes interviews with prominent northern and southern Sudanese and explores what partition means for one family of mixed heritage. Isam Babiker’s novel […]
Border war in the Sudans?
The new hostilities between Sudan and South Sudan have generated renewed interest in two RVI publications: Douglas Johnson's When Boundaries Become Borders and Eddie Thomas' The Kafia Kingi Enclave. The books offer the most detailed available account of border communities in the Sudans, their shared resources and disputed boundaries. Meanwhile Douglas Johnson has published a […]
Conflict and insecurity in South Sudan
Ethnic violence in South Sudan's rural communities is addressed in a report from the Juba-based Sudd Institute. In 'Mapping the Sources of Conflict and Insecurity in South Sudan: Living in Fear under a Newly-Won Freedom', RVI co-founder Jok Madut Jok writes that 'this violence, combined with the trend of rising urban crime, the actions of […]
My Mother Will Not Come to Juba: Report launch in South Sudan
In South Sudan, delays in the formulation of a new national constitution have led to growing public concern. My Mother Will Not Come to Juba: South Sudanese Debate the Constitution is the record of a series of public lectures and discussions held at the University of Juba in March 2013. The launch of the report, which is […]
South Sudan National Archives on Miraya FM
On 15 June 2013, Miraya FM in Juba broadcast a feature on the process of digitizing documents for the South Sudan National Archives. The project is a collaboration between the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, RVI,UNESCO, UNOPS and the Government of Norway. ‘The documents are important,’ the report says, ‘as they will form part of the foundations of South Sudanese […]