Henri Djombo (born 1952) is a Congolese politician who has served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville as Minister of State for Agriculture since 2016. Previously he was Minister of Water and Forests from 1980 to 1985 and Minister of the Forest Economy from 1997 to 2016. He is a member of the ruling Congolese Labour Party (PCT). Early life and political career Djombo was born in Enyellé, located in the Likouala Region of northern Congo-Brazzaville, and studied in Leningrad in the Soviet Union. He joined the civil service in 1976, becoming an adviser to the Minister of the Rural Economy in 1977 and then Director of Studies and Planning at the Ministry of the Rural Economy in 1978. He was appointed as Director-General of the Rural Economy in 1979 and served in the government as Minister of Water and Forests from 1980 until being dismissed from the government in December 1985. He also joined the ruling Congolese Labour Party (PCT) in 1979, and in 1980 he became a member of the bureau of the Central Committee of the Union of Socialist Congolese Youth (UJSC). After leaving the government, Djombo was the Congolese Ambassador to Bulgaria from 1986 to 1988, and subsequently he was President and Director-General of the Sugar Refinery of Congo (Sucrerie du Congo, or Suco) from 1989 to 1991. He joined the PCT Central Committee in 1989. At the time of the 1993 parliamentary election, Djombo was President of the Technical Commission for the election. Also in 1993, he was a member of the opposition's delegation to political negotiations in Libreville. Later, he was Vice-President of the Technical Committee for the Special Census from 1996 to 1997. Denis Sassou Nguesso returned to power at the conclusion of the June–October 1997 civil war, and he appointed Djombo to the government as Minister of the Forest Economy on 2 November 1997. His portfolio was slightly modified in subsequent years: he was appointed as Minister of the Forest Economy, Fishing and Fish Resources on 12 January 1999, as Minister of the Forest Economy and the Environment on 18 August 2002, and then simply as Minister of the Forest Economy on 3 March 2007. Djombo led negotiations with rebels in the late 1990s. In the May 2002 parliamentary election, he was elected to the National Assembly as the PCT candidate in Enyellé constituency; he won the seat in the first round with