  The Ks-band magnitude distribution of carbon-rich and oxygen-rich asymptotic
giant branch stars within Local Group galaxies like the Magellanic Clouds, NGC
6822, M33 and SagDIG is easily obtained from ground-based observations.
Appropriate stellar evolutionary models covering a range of metallicities and
star formation rates are used to produce theoretical distributions that allow
us to derive the history of star formation across these galaxies. I will show
the result of these studies and discuss the application of this technique to
more distant systems as well as deeper observations, like those that VISTA will
provide, to improve our understanding of, in particular, the Magellanic Clouds.
