In the Republic of Niger, eight exemplary irrigation systems were studied, ranging from large, government- administered perimeters to small, privately-owned, manual-lift microsystems. The total cost to the farmer for water, the various components of that cost, and related farmer and system performance were evaluated and found to vary significantly among systems. Irrigation systems in which farmers incur the highest volumetric costs for water and which allow for greater direct farmer control over system water management tend to exhibit the highest performance characteristics.