Hans Herren co-chaired of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development, an international effort to evaluate agricultural knowledge, science and knowledge around the world, which culminated in a comprehensive 2008 report. He serves as president of the Virginia-based Millennium Institute, a non-profit working for sustainable development. Herren is credited with saving millions of African lives by introducing a biological control to curb a mealy bug epidemic, which was destroying cassava, a staple crop of 200 million people in sub-Saharan Africa.