AFES - Association Française pour l'Etude du Sol

What AFES - Association Française pour l'Etude du Sol does

AFES (Association Française pour l'Étude du Sol) is a French non-profit scientific society (association loi 1901) founded in 1934 and headquartered at the INRAE research center in Orléans, France. It serves as the French national branch of the International Union of Soil Science (IUSS) and brings together researchers, educators, students, technicians, farmers, and civil society actors engaged in soil science. Its activities are structured around three missions: valorizing soil science knowledge, recognizing competencies in pedology, and animating a community of soil science actors.

The association operates a portfolio of knowledge assets and programs: a Resource Center (Centre de ressources) hosting scientific publications and technical documents; the e-Sol digital platform for soil resource access; the peer-reviewed journal Etude et Gestion des Sols (EGS); the Référentiel Pédologique (the French national pedological reference framework for soil classification); educational programs including webinars, PromoSolsTerrain (field training), and La Fresque du Sol (a collaborative soil-awareness workshop); the DEMOLON scholarship program for young researchers; and major events such as the Journées d'Etude des Sols (JES), World Soil Day celebrations, and the SOILSCAPE Festival combining arts and soil science. AFES also coordinates participatory science initiatives (SRP) and a network of forest soil quality referents.

AFES funds its operations through individual membership dues (several hundred members), a 1,500+ subscriber mailing list, donations, project-based grants from public-sector partners (notably ADEME, OFB, and the EU/Swiss Government under Horizon Europe for the SOILSCAPE project), and modest merchandise sales through an online boutique. It is governed by a Board of Directors with Alain Brauman serving as President and Sophie Raous as Director, supported by a small staff of approximately 7–10 FTE across mission coordination, training, communications, website management, and accounting.

Name

AFES - Association Française pour l'Etude du Sol

Legal name

Association Française pour l'Etude du Sol

Website

https://afes.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1934

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

AFES is a French non-profit scientific society founded in 1934 that serves as the national branch of the International Union of Soil Science, providing soil science resources, education, and community programs to researchers, educators, students, farmers, and civil society actors in France and Europe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scientific Society and Soil Science Education

NAICS

All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Agriculture, Environmental & Earth Sciences (EDAGABAL)

Keywords

• Soil science research
• Pedology education
• Scientific society membership
• Soil resource publications
• Citizen science programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Orléans

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: AFES operates as a membership-based association, generating revenue through annual membership fees from its members (several hundred members).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

AFES is a French learned (scientific) society founded in 1934 dedicated to the study of soils. It operates a resource center (Centre de ressources) and a digital platform (Plateforme e-Sol), publishes the peer-reviewed journal Etude et Gestion des Sols (EGS), maintains the Référentiel pédologique classification, and runs educational programs, conferences, webinars, and citizen science initiatives. It also coordinates the European SOILSCAPE project and Festival combining arts and soil sciences, and supports young researchers through the Bourses DEMOLON scholarship program.

Product overview

AFES is a scientific society (association) dedicated to soil science, not a commercial product company. Its offerings include a Resource Center with scientific publications, the EGS (Etude et Gestion des Sols) journal, the e-Sol electronic platform, and various educational programs including webinars, field training (PromoSolsTerrain), and the Fresque du Sol workshop tool. The organization runs major events including the annual SOILSCAPE Festival combining arts and soil science, World Soil Day celebrations, and study days (JES). It also manages the DEMOLON scholarship program for young researchers and citizen science initiatives (SRP). The association provides a members-only portal with premium content access.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Centre de ressources (Resource Center) Comprehensive resource center providing access to scientific publications, soil study documents, and technical resources about soil science, available to AFES members and the broader community.
• Plateforme e-Sol Electronic platform providing digital access to soil science resources and data, supporting research, education, and documentation in pedology.
• Revue Etude et Gestion des Sols (EGS) Official peer-reviewed scientific journal of AFES featuring research articles on soil study and management, targeting soil scientists, researchers, and academics.
• La Fresque du Sol Collaborative workshop and educational game tool enabling participants to discover and understand soils through interactive learning activities, used for awareness raising and pedagogy.
• Festival Sols & Arts (SOILSCAPE) Annual European festival combining artistic approaches with scientific research on soils, held in Angers, France as part of the Horizon Europe SOILSCAPE project.
• Boutique en ligne (Online Shop) Online store selling AFES-branded merchandise including double-meter soil measuring tools, EGS journal issues, and Fresque du Sol educational games.
• PromoSolsTerrain Field education program offering hands-on soil science training and field experience for participants interested in practical soil characterization and management.
• Référentiel pédologique Pedological reference framework providing standardized soil classification and description methods for the French soil science community and practitioners.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• CORLABminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2026CORLAB partnered with AFES on the Ondes Durables project to produce the 'La santé des sols' podcast series, combining scientific and media expertise.
• FRAP (Fédération des Radio Associatives de Poitou-Charentes)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2026FRAP collaborated with AFES on the Ondes Durables project podcast series about soil health, providing regional radio network support.
• Global Soil Partnership (FAO)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2020AFES became a member of the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) under FAO in September 2020. This partnership connects AFES with the international soil science community and provides access to global soil initiatives and resources.
• INRAE (Institut national de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFES is hosted at INRAE's Orléans research center. INRAE provides institutional support and infrastructure for AFES operations and activities.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Sociedad Española de la Ciencia del Suelo: Spanish national soil science society with parallel mission, member base of researchers and educators, and events. Closest Iberian peer to AFES in scope.
• British Society of Soil Science: UK learned society for soil science with similar membership, journal (European Journal of Soil Science), events, and educational remit. Closest European peer to AFES in scope and size, providing a natural comparator for membership-based science society models.
• Soil Science Society of America: The US national learned society for soil science, publishing leading journals (Soil Science Society of America Journal) and running the annual meetings. Directly comparable to AFES in mission, member structure, and educational programming, but operating at much greater scale in North America.
• Società Italiana della Scienza del Suolo (SISS): Italian national soil science society with similar learned-society mission and Mediterranean-European context. Functions as a parallel national peer.
• Deutsche Bodenkundliche Gesellschaft (DBG): German soil science society with comparable national-scope mission, commissions, and events. Functions as a peer national society alongside AFES within the European soil science ecosystem.

Others

• INRAE (Institut national de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement): French national agronomic research institute that hosts AFES at its Orléans center and partners on programs. Not a competing society but the most relevant institutional anchor and ecosystem enabler for AFES.
• La Fresque du Climat: France-based non-profit that built a scalable, facilitator-licensed workshop format for climate awareness. Comparable to AFES's La Fresque du Sol in pedagogical model and demonstrates the type of growth trajectory and licensing model AFES could emulate.

Regional players

• European Society for Soil Conservation (ESSC): European society focused on soil conservation, with overlapping mission and European geography. Comparable as a peer learned society addressing a subset of AFES's soil-science remit with a conservation lens.
• Australian Society of Soil Science Inc. National soil science society serving Australian soil scientists with comparable structure (state branches, conferences, journal). Functions as a regional peer rather than a direct competitor.

Broad incumbents

• International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS): Global umbrella organization of which AFES is the French national member. Operates at broader geographic and policy scale; comparable as a soil science convening body, though IUSS does not deliver national-level member programming.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/afes-association-fran%C3%A7aise-pour-l-etude-du-sol

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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