There are five types of capital assets (Frame 1, above): Natural capital involves biodiversity and quantity and quality of accessible land and water. "Resource recognition" is important in this context. "Hidden" natural resources can be accessed, such as vacant lots, unused water surfaces and nutrient-rich solid and liquid wastes. Physical capital includes buildings, equipment and seeds. Human capital takes in labor, knowledge and health status. Financial capital comprises available income and savings. Social capital includes the access to networks, groups, trust and support. Inadequacy in any of these assets can leave households vulnerable to economic, environmental, health and political stresses and shocks (the vulnerability context - Frame 2).

 The deployment of assets in household strategies, the influences and impediments experienced through engagement with the institutional and policy fabric of the city (Frame 3) and the outcomes achieved determine livelihood strategies (Frame 4), which in turn result in livelihood outcomes (Frame 5).

Policies, institutions and processes influence positively or negatively the extent of vulnerability to which producers and consumers are exposed (Frame 6). Likewise, livelihood outcomes impact positively or negatively on household livelihoods assets and on the vulnerability context (Frame 7).

Urban Harvest identifies three research themes: Livelihoods and Markets (Frame 8) targets production, processing, marketing and consumption systems along the rural-urban transect and identifies technology interventions to enhance income and food and nutrition security. Urban ecosystem health (Frame 9) focuses attention on the feedback mechanisms between people's actions and population, community and environmental health. Stakeholder and policy dialogue (Frame 10) seeks understanding of the actors, policies and institutions concerned in urban agricultural activities and develops methods for communication and consensus among actors and legitimacy for urban agriculture in policy and regulatory schemes.