Digital tools as instruments of intermediation: from multiple expectations to contrasted realities[Outils numériques comme instruments d’intermédiation : des attentes multiples aux réalités contrastées]

In an environment where markets are shaped by political dynamics and controversies described as 'ordinary consequences' (Geiger et al., 2014), there is a growing propensity to resort to digital tools, which are frequently imbued with 'technological solutionism' (Vigouroux-Zugasti, 2018). The advent of digital technologies generates promises regarding their ability to contribute to the improvement of a variety of economic sectors, including agriculture and food. These tools are often presented as powerful vectors for empowerment, transparency, and disintermediation (Jouanjean, 2019). From simple matchmaking to the complex management of Big Data or secure transactions, the expectations placed upon these techno logies are manifold and diverse. However, concrete experience reveals a reality that is often more nuanced, if not contrasted, where initial promises collide with technical, social, economic and governance challenges (Pandey et al., 2022). This chapter proposes to explore this tension between the expectations raised by digital tools as intermediation instruments in the agricultural and food sectors and the realities observed through several studies funded or labelled by #DigitAg, alongside an analysis of recent literature. Digitalising intermediation in agriculture: which tools? which challenges?The toolsThe agricultural and food sectors have witnessed the emergence of a diversity of digital tools aimed at facilitating the ways in which actors exchange and coordinate. The #DigitAg social science PhD research projects mentioned in this chapter primarily focused on three tools: digital platforms, data platforms and blockchain technology.Digital platforms create interfaces that facilitate interactions between different types of actors (Chen et al., 2022). While food platforms organise transactions between farmers and their clients (Chiffoleau et al., 2018), data platforms concentrate their solutions