Development of Strategies to Reduce Rural-Urban Migration in Khuzestan Province Using the Combined SWOT-AHP Method

The present study was conducted with the aim of developing strategies to reduce rural-urban migration in the Khuzestan province. In this research, firstly the analytical studies and literature were used to examine the four points of SWOT, namely strength, weakness, opportunity and threat, and then to prioritize them using the AHP technique. The statistical population of the study were informed persons and experts in relevant organizations in the Khuzestan province. The sample contained 48 experts who were selected using the purposive sampling method. In order to process the information from the matrix, the SWOT-AHP technique from the Expert Choice software was performed. The findings showed that in evaluating the criteria, threat points, weaknesses, opportunities and strengths ranked first to last, which indicates the dominance of the risky over the useful space. In addition, using the TOWS matrix, twelve strategies were designed to reduce rural migration. Based on the results, the two strategies of "development of appropriate technologies to reduce the difficulty of working in agricultural sector and keeping alive the hope to work in agricultural sector" and "correct advertising about the importance and value of youth activities in agricultural sector and employing graduates of agricultural sector to increase the power of creativity and innovation" were identified as the most important strategies in this regard.