The most distinguished anthropological studies on risk have a common characteristic: peasant agriculture. Anthropologists delight in pointing to the "institutional context" (Wolf 1969; XV) and the farming techniques used by peasants to reduce the chances of crop failure and market uncertainties. A partial list of such techniques includes: inter-row planting, plot dispersal, and planting of different species or varieties of the same crop. Social mechanisms to reduce uncertainty include patron-client relationships, sharecropping, redistribution of land and crops, reciprocity in food and labor, and strategic marriage alliances.