SA-DEEP: Disability Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship
SA-DEEP is built on a simple belief: given the right tools and connections, persons with disabilities can build enterprises that sustain them — and tell their own story to the world.
Persons with disabilities face some of the highest rates of poverty in Southern Africa. Discrimination shuts them out of formal employment. Inaccessible workplaces, limited skills training, and no access to credit or markets make self-employment just as hard. For women and youth with disabilities, those barriers are even sharper.
Skills training.
Enterprise development.
Market access.
Women and youth inclusion.
Arts and crafts project — Kgatleng District, Botswana
Implemented in partnership with Loughborough University, the project works with 13 craftspeople with disabilities through the Kgatleng Disabled People's Association (KDPA) in Mochudi. It started as a five-month pilot and has grown into a sustained initiative.
A key output is a multi-purpose hall built in Mochudi — a physical hub where craftspeople can work, train, exchange knowledge, and develop their businesses. A needs assessment study was also commissioned to understand what the 13 craftspeople require to grow their enterprises, covering their aspirations, challenges, and opportunities.
Itirele
An e-commerce platform marketing handmade artefacts to international buyers. Itirele means "make it yourself" in Setswana.
SA-DEEP is not just about income. It is about dignity, independence, and the right of persons with disabilities to participate fully in economic life.