Development assessment of leisure agriculture in Henan province of China based on SWOT-AHP method

Purpose: The development of leisure agriculture is an important means of agricultural industry structure adjustment of Henan province, China, to realize the transition from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture. Design/methodology/approach: The SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat) analysis of Henan leisure agriculture will contribute to the sustainable development of Henan leisure agriculture. The strength, weakness, opportunity and threat of developing leisure agriculture in Henan province were systematically analyzed using SWOT method in our study. The aspects including location, resources, traffic, population, economy, urbanization, industrialization, market, policy, capital, product, technology, management, marketing and environment were involved. The strength, weakness, opportunity and threat were quantified in this study using AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) method. Findings: The result showed that the total strength and total opportunity of Henan leisure agriculture are much greater than that of total weakness and total threat, which suggests that the opportunities outweigh threats, and advantage outweigh disadvantage. The growth-oriented strategy combining the external opportunities and its own advantages shall be employed in development of Henan leisure agriculture as indicated by the strategy strength coefficient in strategy quadrangle we have constructed. The barriers to the development need to be overcome while strengthening competitive advantages. Originality/value: New ideas for working out the developmental strategy for Henan leisure agriculture is provided by SWOT-AHP method.