“I realised it was very difficult to get a job”

“After finishing university, I realised that it was very difficult to get a job. I did some casual jobs, but I realised I could not depend on someone to fulfill all my needs.”

28year old Assumpta had even sold vegetables in Nyabugogo, Kigali, before she went into beetroot growing and realised it was a profitable crop. 

“I did more research on it, especially how to extract juice from it.”

Later, she got a temporary job with a Germany-funded project in Ruhengeri (Musanze District). She used to make juice for staff, among other roles.

Uwamariya says one of the members of staff at the project connected her to a worker in a wine factory in Germany who started teaching her how to make wine. After acquiring the necessary skills, she returned home and started making wine from beetroot.

In January, 2016, she made the first commercial wine product.

“There are people in Kigali who call me asking me to supply them with the beverage but my production is not enough to meet all the demand,” she says, adding that some of her customers come from DR Congo.

“Sometimes I have orders for wedding ceremonies. The major ones have been two, one where I delivered 600 bottles, and the other 300 bottles.”

Excerpt from Job in Rwanda.

Assumpta Uwamariya is the founder of Karisimbi wines.