NAIROBI - Kenya's total tea production for 2012 will drop by 5 percent compared to 2011 when the country harvested 378 million kg, the industry's regulator said on Tuesday.

Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) Managing Director Sicily Kariuki told Xinhua in Nairobi that poor rainfall which has already affected production levels for the first quarter of 2012 will result in lower yields for tea farmers.

"We are projecting that due to prolonged dry season in the beginning of the year, when final results are released at the end of the year, the country's production will have fallen by 5 percent to 360 million kg for 2012," Kariuki said during the launch of the tea marathon slated for Saturday.

The marathon aims to increase the amount of local tea consumption, in order to reduce over reliance on exports markets.

"Already February's output has been negatively impacted as production for the month reduced by 20 percent compared to that of same month in 2011," she added.

"The present rains have come late and will not be enough to reverse the loss in production," the managing director said, adding the impact of the current rains will be felt later on in the growing season.

TBK said that the level of volatility of the Kenya shilling will determine export earnings for the year.

"We don't see any negative impact on shilling but if it remains stable then the tea industry could surpass last year's earnings of $1.3 billion," she noted.

"We hope to expand our tea export destinations from the current 54," the TBK head said, noting Kenya is currently carrying out market profiling in various countries in order to expand sales.

"Changing consumption habits of consumers is a long-term task and so we are looking for more resources as part of strategy to compete with other choices of beverages," she said.