Sébastien Abis

Sébastien Abis has been an associate researcher at IRIS since 2012, developing expertise in global food security, the influence of France and the EU, the Mediterranean region, and maritime dynamics.

Since 2017, he has been the director of Club DEMETER, which brings together 90 member companies from the agricultural, agri-industrial, and food sectors, as well as partners (20 schools and universities, 55 associate experts, 5 French ministries, and 11 European organisations). Forward-looking, multifaceted, and critical reflections fuel debates, analyses, and experiences within this ecosystem.

He teaches at the Catholic University and Junia in Lille, as well as at UM6P in Rabat. He is a columnist for LCI, Futuribles, L’Opinion, Sésame, and CyclOpe. He is a member of the editorial board of the Futuribles journal and an expert for APM. He serves on the mission committees of Avril and InVivo companies and the Supervisory Board of the Grand Port Maritime of La Rochelle. He is also a member of the steering committee of MEDEF-International’s Agri-Food cluster and the Sully Circle.

Sébastien Abis directs Le Déméter, an annual academic publication on agricultural, food, and environmental foresight, published by IRIS (IRIS Éditions). In 2024, he is publishing Veut-on nourrir le monde ? Franchir l’Everest alimentaire en 2050 (A. Colin) and Géopolitique des céréales (Eyrolles). In 2023, he published Géopolitique du blé (A. Colin) and Géopolitique du sucre: le futur de la betterave française (IRIS Éditions). He authored Géopolitique de la mer in 2022 and Géopolitique de l’agriculture in 2020 (Eyrolles), as well as several other works focusing on the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Sébastien Abis is an officer in the Citizen Reserve of the French Navy (RCIT) and a Knight of the National Order of Agricultural Merit. He is regularly consulted and heard by French and European public authorities.

A graduate of the University of Lille II (Master’s in History and Geography) and IEP Lille (DESS in Strategic Studies), Sébastien Abis has worked at the French Ministry of Defence (2004), the Centre for Analysis and Liaison of Mediterranean Actors (2005), and the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) from 2006 to 2016.