On 14 May 2019, the Rift Valley Forum hosted a panel discussion to launch The Struggle for South Sudan: Challenges of Security and State Formation. The book discusses solutions to the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, bringing together essays from international and South Sudanese political scientists, economists and practitioners. The Forum reflected on key…
On 27 May 2019, the findings from that study were disseminated through the launch of a special issue of the Journal of Eastern African Studies: Has Kenya changed? The 2017 elections and the impact of constitutional reform. The event examined the main research findings from the special issue, including key governance issues, the 2017 elections and prospects for the 2022 elections.
On Monday 10 June, the Rift Valley Forum will host a panel discussion to disseminate findings from a Rift Valley Institute (RVI) project on research collaboration, in partnership with the Congolese research institute, Groupe d'Etudes sur les Conflits et la Sécurité Humaine (GEC-SH) and funded by the Knowledge Management Fund of KPSRL. The project examines the political economy of knowledge…
Unprecedented levels of investment in ‘green’ resources—hydropower, geothermal, wind, landscapes and wildlife—are a central feature of national development strategies across eastern Africa. Political and business leaders have welcomed this investment for the benefits it will bring to the national population and the local jobs created. Many of these resource development projects are located at…
Drought is once again devastating the Horn of Africa. It has severely affected the food security of more than 13 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. Although droughts and other climatic shocks are recurrent in the region, are humanitarians, donors and governments learning from the successes and failures of past responses?
On 4 September 2019, the Rift Valley Institute, in collaboration with the British Institute in Eastern Africa, launched the book, Benga, a Kenyan Kaleidoscope, by the Flee Project. The book invites readers to consider the intensification and digitalization of exchanges and their impact on artistic practices, the obsession with authenticity and cultural appropriation.
For the fifth time since 2010, Somalia is exploring options for an electoral model that will advance the country’s democratic process. Despite previous attempts to pursue democracy, Somalia has failed to shed its clan-based political system. So far, the Federal Government of Somalia and other key stakeholders have been unable to agree on a workable electoral model for the 2020 parliamentary…
Ethiopia has become one of the most profitable locations in Africa for foreign funded agricultural developments. Hoping for export revenues, the Ethiopian government leases millions of hectares of allegedly unused land to foreign investors. However, the dream of prosperity has a dark side: massive forced evictions, small scale farmers losing their livelihoods, repression and a vicious spiral…
On 5 July 2019, the Rift Valley Forum launched the book, Widow Inheritance and Contested Citizenship in Kenya, by Dr. Awino Okech. The book explores the intersection between power, gender, and sexualities and the role of body politics in the construction of gendered subjects and nations. The book uses widow inheritance amongst Luo of Kenya as a case study and unpacks how ‘respectable…
On 9 July, the Rift Valley Institute will host a panel discussion on rural to urban migration in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. The panellists will present findings from their research on rural to urban migration as well as key findings from the project's synthesis report, The Lure of the City.
