Analytic Hierarchy Process and SWOT Analysis of Agricultural Bank in Promoting Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Agriculture Sector

The role of public financial institutions in agricultural education and extension has received less attention. In this study, quantitative SWOT analysis was used to determine the strategy of the Agricultural Bank of Iran in education and extension of entrepreneurship and innovation in agriculture sector. Based on the literature review and global experiences, the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework was considered. For this purpose, the multi-criteria decision making models were used along with the combination of SWOT and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodologies. The analysis of AHP-SWOT results in two-dimensional graphic space emphasizes the need for the bank to adopt aggressive strategies, which means following different combinations of the mentioned strengths and opportunities. According to the findings of this research, the most important strengths of the bank and the coefficient of importance of each (in parentheses) include branches across the country (0.6), trust in the bank as a governmental institution (0.25), and the developmental nature of the bank (0.15). The most important opportunities include the possibility of increasing productivity in the agricultural sector (0.35), innovation in financial area (0.28), international cooperation (0.24), and Internet impact and cyberspace (0.13). This study provides new insights into the role of a financial institution from the perspective of education and extension in agricultural sector.  The important novelty of this study is that it develops a framework in which the preferred strategy of public institution can be identified in PPP programs.